A young girl whom Erie police had been hoping to speak to about allegations of being the victim of sexual abuse came to the city police department and told of repeatedly being touched inappropriately, according to investigators.
The girl’s information would lead Erie police on Aug. 5 to charge city resident James B. Rusk with felony counts including aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
The investigation would also lead police to two more girls who claimed similar sexual abuse by the man.
Rusk, 47, has been in the Erie County Prison on $100,000 bond since his Aug. 6 arraignment on the initial charges and was arraigned Sept. 8 on two new sets of charges Erie police filed against him Sept. 7 and 8. In one case, Rusk faces charges including felony counts of rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, rape and aggravated indecent assault. In the second case, he faces charges including felony counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Erie 3rd Ward District Judge Alison Scarpitti returned Rusk to prison on $325,000 in additional bonds following the arraignments.
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What happened in the assaults?
In the first case in which Rusk was charged, investigators wrote in his criminal complaint that police had received information about the suspected sexual abuse sometime before the girl eventually came to the Erie police station and spoke to an investigator in early August.
In addition to telling police that Rusk had sexually assaulted her dating back to 2017, the girl stated Rusk also often gave her marijuana and alcohol, the investigating detective wrote in the complaint’s affidavit of probable cause.
A few days after speaking with the girl, investigators spoke to another girl who said she was sexually assaulted by Rusk. That girl told police the assaults were previously reported to the police, but she did not talk about it when previously interviewed. The girl said Rusk bribed her by getting her whatever she wanted, the investigating detective wrote in that complaint’s affidavit.
A third girl was interviewed by police days after the second interview. She stated Rusk had touched her inappropriately one night while she was sleeping on a couch, according to information in that complaint’s affidavit.
Rusk is tentatively scheduled to appear in court Sept. 21 for his preliminary hearings in the three cases, according to information in his criminal docket sheet.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man accused of sexually assaulting three young girls