Cops: Prof touched boy

April 5, 2007

Adapted from the Press Enterprise

A retired professor molested a 10-year-old boy in a camper last summer, police say.

The former biology instructor knew his victim's family through a camping club, state police said.

The man currently is being held in county prison.

At the arraignment, the trooper said he had "serious concerns about (the man’s) willingness to proceed" with the case.

The accused has been sleeping at an RV park rather than at his house, the trooper said, and officers located him at the library yesterday only after going to his home and to several nearby RV parks.

Recently, the 71-year-old was pulled over for drunken driving and had a passport in his vehicle at the time, according to the trooper. The man was heading to a nearby town, which is where his brother lives but also where the victim lives, the trooper noted.

The man acknowledged he had been sleeping at the RV park because he was getting the vehicle ready for summer and was restless at his house.

"I wasn't sleeping well at home, knowing a trooper could come up at any time," he explained.

The boy had been on a weekend camping trip with his parents and grandparents at a campground, a criminal complaint says. The family and the man are members of the same social organization, police said.

On the Friday of the vacation, the man and the boy spent about an hour alone together, during which they went to the camp store. The man treated the boy to miniature golf and candy, according to authorities.

The next day, the man accompanied the family to an amusement park for the day, bought the boy candy and game tickets, and took several pictures of him, police said.

On Sunday, the man persuaded the family to go on a second trip to the amusement park, and the boy spent time alone with the former professor in his RV camper that morning, police said.

But after they came out of the camper, the man said he did not want to go to the amusement park, according to arrest papers.

Police said the family exchanged e-mails with the man after returning from the camping trip. In those e-mails, the man wrote to both the boy and his parents and invited them all to his home as well as on an additional camping trip. He also sent the boy a book through the mail, according to charges.

The boy's mother later told state police that her son said the man touched him inappropriately while they were in the camper.

The boy told his mother that the man asked him if he liked that, and stopped when the boy said no, the complaint says.

In September, the boy was interviewed by officials from a children's organization. In that interview, the boy "stated that (the man) put his hand up the leg of the shorts (the boy) was wearing and under his underwear, touching his private area," according to police.

In March, police searched the man's home and seized two laptop computers, 14 unlabeled compact discs and two thumb drives, according to the complaint.

Officers found printed copies of the e-mails between the man and the boy's family, as well as condoms, an erectile dysfunction drug, personal lubricant, and six DVDs, "several of which have a plot...of sexual relationships between men and young boys," according to police.

One of the DVDs, police said, tells the story of a young boy who "seeks companionship" with a college professor.

During the search, police said the man told them he was alone in his camper with the boy and touched him on his back and other non-sexual areas. The man said he asked the boy if it was all right to touch him, and he believed the boy enjoyed it, charges say.

At his arraignment, the man testified that he taught college for more than 30 years before he retired. He said his wife died nearly three years ago and he has three daughters. He has no prior arrests and no drug or alcohol addictions, he said.

The man is charged with indecent assault and corrupting a minor. Police said additional, more serious "spin-off" charges could be filed, but they could not elaborate.