Medical Exam Casts Doubt On Recent Claim Of Abuse In Glastonbury Sex Assault Case

By DAVID OWENS

The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD —

The state's case against two Glastonbury men accused of sexually assaulting boys they adopted through the state Department of Children and Families took a significant hit Wednesday when a prosecutor disclosed in court that a new claim of abuse by one of the victims did not stand up to a medical evaluation.

The allegation of abuse with a weapon was made public April 5, when Douglas Wirth, 45, and George Harasz, 49, were to receive suspended prison sentences after each pleaded no contest to a charge of risk of injury to a minor.

Prosecutor David Zagaja said in court Wednesday that the state had investigated that new allegation of abuse and found that it was not credible. "The state is not going to proceed on anything that relates to that new allegation," Zagaja said.

The medical examination of the scars that the complainant said resulted from an assault with a weapon did not corroborate the claim.

"The result is somewhat unfavorable to the credibility of the complainant," Zagaja said. "We're not going to proceed, as those allegations significantly affect what he has previously told us."

The state will continue to press forward with allegations from another child, although Wirth's attorney, Michael Dwyer, said the state's findings regarding the first complainant undermine the whole case.

"I think it goes much deeper than just this witness," Dwyer said. "The credibility of this witness … is going to have a significant impact on the second witness."

At the April 5 hearing, the new allegation prompted Zagaja and defense attorneys Hubert Santos, representing Harasz, and Dwyer to ask Judge Joan K. Alexander to let the men withdraw their pleas and go to trial.

Alexander did so, but she also criticized the state Department of Children and Families for not launching an immediate investigation into the new allegation of abuse, which was contained in a pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer. A DCF caseworker was with the young man when he disclosed the alleged abuse.

"[The son said] he has scars from being held down and raped and that those injuries were inflicted by a weapon," according to a presentencing report, which Zagaja read in court April 5.

Dwyer urged both sides to take a step back, to again evaluate the evidence, and to consider the impact of having a young man with serious emotional issues testify and have his credibility a key issue in the trial. Without physical or forensic evidence, the state's case will rely on the credibility of those who testify.

Alexander continued the case to July 16 and ordered Zagaja to determine by then what charges the state will pursue so that the defendants can be put on notice.

Initially, Harasz, 49, was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, aggravated first-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and cruelty to persons. Wirth, 45, was initially charged with third-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Those charges were reduced to a single charge for each man as part of the plea agreement.

The men adopted nine boys, who are from three sibling groups, through DCF beginning in 2000. Harasz and Wirth received two waivers, one in 2006 and the second in 2008, to exceed the limit for adopted children in one household.

Police began an investigation into the allegations of abuse in February 2011, and the boys were removed from the home. A second investigation began six months later.

Wirth and Harasz were arrested Nov. 30, 2011.