Victims Of Sexual

Maryland senators heard tear-filled testimony yesterday in support of a bill that would establish a one-year period for childhood victims of sexual abuse, regardless of their age, to bring civil lawsuits against their perpetrators. "Does anyone want to protect pedophiles?" asked sexual abuse victim Tom Dembeck, 50, of Cockeysville, as he stretched out his arms and turned to face a crowded audience before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Dembeck accused the proposal's opponents of aiding offenders.

The woman initially didn't want to believe her teenage son's allegations that the pastor she considered a father figure had molested him. "I asked him over and over, `Are you sure?'" she told a Baltimore County judge yesterday, "hoping he would say something that would let me escape this." Yesterday, as Gerald Fitroy Griffith pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse, the woman talked of the pain that came with betrayal. Still, some members of the Redemption Christian Fellowship Church in Woodlawn sat behind Griffith during his court hearing -- and waved to him. Circuit Judge Robert N. Dugan said there could no longer be any doubt about Griffith's guilt.

A 57-year-old Towson psychologist has been charged with a third-degree sex offense and child abuse in an incident involving a former patient who was 7 years old at the time, Baltimore County police said yesterday.Leslie Peter Mandell of the 900 block of Starbit Road was released on a personal pledge with bail set at $25,000. Mandell was arrested Friday after officers served a search warrant at his office and home on Starbit Road.Police recently learned of the allegation after the child, whose name was not released, told her mother about an incident that occurred between 1992 and 1994.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has announced $1.2 million in grants from the federal Violence Against Women Act that will fund 43 programs for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Maryland.The grants were announced Tuesday at the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Academy in Dundalk, where Townsend introduced a statewide sexual assault training curriculum to more than 100 law enforcement officers and victims' advocates.Those at the seminar learned the new standards for proper police response to incidents of sexual violence.

Six months after county budget cuts forced the Sexual Abuse Treatment Center to reduce services and staff, the agency is urging Carroll officials to restore a counseling program that served adults who sexually abused children.It's critical to treat the offenders as well as child victims of sexual abuse because in many instances the abuser and the child continue to live in the same household, said Sandra L. Rappeport, Carroll County district director of Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland.

For a 29-year-old Aberdeen mother raped last year, the ordeal did not end yesterday when her attacker was sentenced in Harford Circuit Court to 10 years in prison."

The Howard County Sexual Assault Center has joined America's first nationwide toll-free hot line for victims of sexual assault: 1-800-656-HOPE.The number is operated by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a Washington-based nonprofit organization.When callers dial the toll-free number, they are connected to the nearest rape crisis center.

Support for Rape VictimsRape support is available 24 hours in Howard County.The Howard County Sexual Assault Center Inc. supports the Howard County Police Department and its investigations of instances of sexual assault in the county.The board of directors and I find the reporting in The Sun of the "PrimeTime Live" interview and the rape case on which it was based to be in especially poor judgment.The comments made by Kevin Thomas in "Robey gets Caught in TV Headlights" (April 16) and the editorial cartoon published the same Sunday hamper the work of the sexual assault center to provide crisis intervention, counseling and therapy to victims of sexual assault and rape.

An article in last Sunday's Sun about former schoolteacher John Merzbacher might have been interpreted as implying that Derek Rosenbach is among the former Merzbacher students who were alleged victims of sexual abuse. In fact, Mr. Rosenbach is not.The Sun regrets the error.

A 53-year-old deacon pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing three boys between 1975 and 1981 while serving at the Oak Grove Baptist Church in Churchville.Harford County Circuit Judge William O. Carr ordered a presentence investigation and set sentencing of Wayne Erskine Sisk of Bel Air for April 29.According to the plea agreement, Sisk could serve up to six months in jail, but his lawyers are free to argue for a lighter sentence, including probation before judgment.Sisk will be placed on probation for five years and must successfully complete a group therapy program for sexual offenders.

Change laws to bring more abusers to justice I want to thank the 7-year-old abuse survivor and her family for doing what they needed to do to make sure Michael Phillip Hein Sr. was convicted on charges of sexual abuse ("Man convicted of abuse," Jan. 10). Mr. Hein is not unlike most sexual predators; he knew exactly how to "groom" his child victims and knew to warn her not to tell anyone. We all should also be thanking the two teenage girls who witnessed Mr. Hein kissing the young victim and reported what they saw to the police.

The same DNA evidence that cleared a man charged with raping a 59-year-old grandmother in her Roland Park home last year has led police to charge another suspect in the attack, according to court records made public yesterday. Baltimore police charged Roger L. Ervin, 46, of the 3500 block of Dudley Ave. in Baltimore with first-degree rape, conspiracy, armed robbery, assault, burglary and handgun offenses. The Aug. 23 attack that provoked fear in the small subdivision of Tuxedo Park occurred after police said two men followed the victim home from shopping, burst into her home, threatened her with guns and demanded money.

The woman initially didn't want to believe her teenage son's allegations that the pastor she considered a father figure had molested him. "I asked him over and over, `Are you sure?'" she told a Baltimore County judge yesterday, "hoping he would say something that would let me escape this." Yesterday, as Gerald Fitroy Griffith pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse, the woman talked of the pain that came with betrayal. Still, some members of the Redemption Christian Fellowship Church in Woodlawn sat behind Griffith during his court hearing -- and waved to him. Circuit Judge Robert N. Dugan said there could no longer be any doubt about Griffith's guilt.

A convicted pastor's tearful plea for leniency, impassioned testimony about his character and a courtroom jammed with supporters failed to sway a Howard County Circuit Court judge, who sentenced the religious leader yesterday to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage boy who said he once viewed the man as a father figure. As Gerald Fitroy Griffith, 41, was led away in handcuffs, some supporters from Redemption Christian Fellowship Church in Woodlawn who had been quietly crying and sniffling broke into wails and sobs, and one thrashing man was restrained by companions.

Maryland senators heard tear-filled testimony yesterday in support of a bill that would establish a one-year period for childhood victims of sexual abuse, regardless of their age, to bring civil lawsuits against their perpetrators. "Does anyone want to protect pedophiles?" asked sexual abuse victim Tom Dembeck, 50, of Cockeysville, as he stretched out his arms and turned to face a crowded audience before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Dembeck accused the proposal's opponents of aiding offenders.

Stokes urges more time to file sex abuse claims ANNAPOLIS The Baltimore man who shot the now-defrocked priest who molested him as a child urged lawmakers yesterday to extend the statute of limitations for civil actions arising from sexual offenses against minors to 28 years, from seven years. Because the law requires victims of childhood molestation to file claims within seven years after they turn 18, many victims are unable to receive relief for their suffering, 29-year-old Dontee Stokes told the House Judiciary Committee.

Inaugural lighting of tree scheduled at 5 p.m. Tuesday The Carroll County commissioners are starting a tradition: a county holiday tree lighting. The ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday in front of the County Office Building at 225 N. Center St., Westminster. The Westminster West Middle School eighth-grade chorus will perform several seasonal songs on the front steps of the building. A panel from the county's Environmental Advisory Council selected a 22-foot-tall Douglas fir, donated by John and Gail Terzano of Hampstead, to stand inside the fountain circle for the holidays.

A 36-year-old Arbutus man was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to committing a sex offense against his stepdaughter, who is now 14, a prosecutor said. The man pleaded guilty to a second-degree sex offense and received a 15-year sentence, with five years suspended, from Circuit Judge Christian Kahl, said Baltimore County Assistant State's Attorney Sue Hazlett. The Sun does not publish names or other information that would identify victims of sexual abuse.

Roger Taylor gives students his resume and waits for questions. The former military intelligence officer and Arab linguist works as the community educator at the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County. He spends 25 hours each week - anywhere from 50 to 100 presentations a month with middle and high school students - talking about preventing violence. He is met with students who have questions like: Why is a guy talking about rape, and does he know any victims of sexual violence?

Roger Taylor gives students his resume and waits for questions. The former military intelligence officer and Arab linguist works as the community educator at the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County. He spends 25 hours each week -- anywhere from 50 to 100 presentations a month with middle and high school students -- talking about preventing violence. He is met with students who have questions like: Why is a guy talking about rape, and does he know any victims of sexual violence?