Former Rooney Middle School student testifies that ex-schools cop sexually abused him

Source: Pittsburgh Post-GazetteJuly 23--The first alleged victim in the case of a former Pittsburgh Public Schools police officer accused of sexual abuse said during his first interaction with the man, the officer inappropriately grabbed his genitalia.迷你倉價錢In that context, the 28-year-old man testified, the officer was threatening him.The witness testified that he first met Robert Lellock, now 44, in the summer of 1998 when the student went to look at the then-new Arthur J. Rooney Middle School before he was to start classes there in the fall.He told the jury of six men and six women that Mr. Lellock approached him and offered to give him a tour of the school.While they walked up stairs, the man testified, the officer noticed a large blue stain on his right front pants pocket. He then touched the stain, felt something inside, and took out two bank cards that the witness said he found.Mr. Lellock then told the young man he could go to jail for taking the cards, but that he'd give him a break.But as they walked up the stairs, the witness said Mr. Lellock grabbed his penis "real hard" and told him if he told anyone he let the boy go over the cards that he would "rip it off."The witness said the incident made him uncomfortable and scared, but that he didn't report it.He didn't see Mr. Lellock again until the officer pulled him out of his classroom after the school year began.The witness told the jury that Mr. Lellock led him into a locked janitor's closet, talked to him about the credit cards and then "out of nowhere, he grabbed my nipples and squeezed my nipples."From that point on, the witness said Mr. Lellock took him out of class once or twice per week and conversations between them turned to sex.And then the officer, wearing his uniform, would force hiumself sexually on the boy or make the student give him oral sex. He said Mr. Lellock would wear a latex glove on his hand during the activity."At the time, I felt real guilty because I wasn't stopping him from doing it," the witness testified. "There was a lot of guilt and shame."I was feeling a lot of feelings I didn't understand."By February of that school year, the student had been expelled for taking a pocket knife to school."I was having thoughts of stabbing him," he testified.The witness said he told a drug and alcohol counselor about the abuse a couple years later, and then told a counselor when he was in placement at the New Castle Youth Development Center when he was 19 or 20. In that instance, the counselor contacted state police.Although he gave a statement to a state trooper, nothing ever came of it, the witness said.During cross-examination, defense attorney Timothy Kidd repeatedly questioned the man's time frame and estimate of how many times he was pulled out of class.He was only enrolled in the school from September to February, missed almost two weeks when he was in a juvenile placement facility, and would have had breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas.Still, the young man stuck by his estimates.Mr. Kidd also asked the form迷你倉庫r student if the trial last summer of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had anything to do with his coming forward with his allegations a month later."Nothing at all," the witness answered.One of the now-adult victims who claims he was sexually abused by a Pittsburgh schools police officer reported the incident at least three times -- including to the Pennsylvania State Police years before any formal investigation was started.That information was presented this morning during the prosecution's opening statement.Mr. Lellock is charged with more than a dozen counts, including include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, criminal solicitation, endangering welfare of children and other charges."The system perpetually let him down every step of the way," said Assistant District Attorney Patrick Schulte during his opening, referring to the first alleged victim. "The adults in his life let the man down."Pittsburgh police Detective Gregory Boss, the first witness called to testify, told the jury that a counselor at the New Castle Youth Development Center contacted the state police in 2005 after the former student, who was placed there, reported having been molested by a school police officer.A state trooper interviewed the young man at the time, but no report was ever produced, Detective Boss said, and the case was not referred to city police, who would have had jurisdiction.It was only after the former student went to Pittsburgh Public Schools police in 2012 to inquire about any investigation of Mr. Lellock that a criminal case was initiated.Since then, three other former students have also come forward.Mr. Schulte told the jurors they would not hear from the class president or captain of the football team."The kids you're going to hear from are the down and out," he said. "They're juvenile delinquents. They're thieves. They're drug users. They're kids on in-school suspension. In other words, they're the perfect victim from a child molester's perspective."Mr. Schulte conceded that there is no physical evidence or DNA in the case."By the time they tell, physical evidence is destroyed," he said. "What we're left with is the word of four boys, who are now young men, who are going to tell you what happened to them at the hands of Robert Lellock."Mr. Lellock's attorney, Mr. Kidd, told the jurors during his opening that because of the time elapsed between the alleged crimes and when his client was charged, they needed to look for inconsistencies from the alleged victims."The only thing there is to challenge is what they say and how they say it," he said. "How do you go back 14 years in time and scream, 'I didn't do this.' You must put yourselves in his shoes."The trial before Judge Donna Jo McDaniel is expected to last several days.Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2620.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存