By Pam Regensberg
Camera Staff Writer

Two Erie teenagers accused of molesting several neighborhood children pleaded innocent Wednesday.

An attorney for one of the boys told Magistrate Tijani R. Cole, "We feel this case is disposable."

Attorney Eric Weisman added that he thinks the case can be resolved with a deferred adjudication and not at a trial.

The boys were arrested in early April on suspicion of one count of sexual assault each in connection with a string of child-on-child sexual abuses that involved nine children in the Sunwest neighborhood of Erie.

The boys' names are not being published because they are charged as juveniles.

They are two of five pre-teen and teenage boys who have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting children during the last two months in Erie.

Appearing separately — the 15-year-old with his mother and the 13-year-old with his parents — before Magistrate Cole, the boys pleaded not guilty to the charges and will appear in court for pre-trial hearings on June 26 and June 7.

Though defense attorneys said the cases could be resolved without trials, Cole set trial dates in June and July.

Authorities began investigating the case after Erie police arrested another 15-year-old boy on March 25 in the Sunwest neighborhood. Investigators said the teen repeatedly sexually assaulted an 8-year-old neighborhood boy and other children over the past year.

Interviews with residents led to the arrests of the two teens who appeared in court Wednesday.

According to police, the alleged victims are between the ages of 6 and 15.

Police say the three teenage boys charged by prosecutors were neighborhood friends but did not act together. They may have been copying sex acts they saw in a pornographic video, police said.

During the hearing, attorneys said one of the boys, 15, may have been investigated for a prior incident in Adams County.

Contact Pam Regensberg at (303) 473-1329 or regensbergp@thedailycamera.com.

May 30, 2002

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