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She wants sex-abuse watchdogsBy SCOTT STEPHENS and STEVE FOGARTY C-T Staff Writer ELYRIA - An Elyria woman, who said she was outraged by the acquittal last week of a Lorain man accused of molesting his 14-year-old adopted daughter, is forming a watchdog group to monitor sexual abuse cases in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.Tracy Belcher said she is recruiting a group of concernedcitizens to sit in on court proceedings on cases involving sexual abuse of children.I’d like to get at least one person in the courtroom while these cases are going on,” she said, ‘‘A lot of young people are not going to come forward after something like this. They’re going to say, ‘What’s the use?”’The planned formation of the group is the latest reaction in the controversy surrounding the acquittal of a 42-year-old Lorainman who admitted in court that he examined his daughter to verify her virginity.The daughter, however, testified her father touched and fondled her for a period lasting more than a year, including during times when she was taking a shower.Judge Joseph Cirigliano, who heard the case after the man waived his right to a jury, found the man innocent of gross sexual imposition. The judge ruled thephysical contact the man made with his daughter was not done for sexual gratification.The case has also drawn the attention of Cleveland talk show host Gary Dee, who devoted the first hour of today’s program to the subject.“I've received tons of letters and calls,” Dee said at the beginning of today’s show. “I’m mortified, I’m appalled, I’m disgusted, I’m shocked and I’m outraged.”Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum, who tried the case, said Dee called him Friday and asked him to be on the show. Rosenbaum said he declined the offer.Cirigliano was unavailable for comment.Dee talked about his reasons for doing the show before going on the air this morning.“I’m really going to go afterthe judge,” Dee said before his 10 a.m. program began on radio station WWWE-AM. “It’s ludicrous. I can’t believe the judge did that.”Dee said he first rejected a producer’s suggestion to air the topic because, he said, “I felt it was too disgusting.”He changed his mind after receiving several letters and phone calls from people who’d read news accounts of the incident.
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Mon, Jun 20, 1988
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Nathan O.
OH, USA 17 Nov 2021
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