« Writing it down and talking is good therapy | Main | School Bus Driver Charged With Sexual Assault »
February 19, 2005
Man suspected of child sex abuse is brought back to NN from Calif.
Police reopened the investigation last year after a child was ready to talk about the alleged abuse.
NEWPORT NEWS -- A suspect in a child sex abuse case dating to 1998 was infected with a sexually transmitted disease when the alleged sexual contact occurred, Newport News police said.
Albert W. Drake, 50, was living in Oceanside, Calif., in October when a detective got warrants charging him with aggravated sexual battery and sodomy, said officer Harold Eley, police spokesman.
Drake, who was arrested on the Virginia fugitive warrant, had fought extradition. Last week, at the request of Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an order releasing Drake to Newport News detectives.
Officers picked Drake up in California and returned with him Monday, Eley said.
A detective added a third charge upon Drake's return - sexual battery while infected with a sexually transmitted disease, Eley said.
The State Code lists HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; hepatitis B; and syphilis as the three sexually transmitted diseases relevant to such a charge.
The sexual abuse reports surfaced in early 1998 through Child Protective Services, Eley said. Drake and the children, ages 3 and 5, were living in Newport News at the time.
Detectives were handicapped in their earlier investigation by the children's inability to communicate, Eley said. "They were too young to describe in detail what had occurred," he said. Consequently, the investigation stalled. Drake later moved from Newport News.
The two children spent the past five years in therapy. Detectives received a call last year that one of the children wanted to tell police about the alleged abuse.
The department resumed the investigation, assigning the case to detective Dierdre Raines, Eley said. On Oct. 12, Raines secured warrants charging the suspect with aggravated sexual battery and sodomy. Drake is in the city jail without bail.
Both children now live outside the area.
Posted by Nealus at February 19, 2005 04:06 PM
