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February 17, 2005
NYC detective arrested in sex abuse case
YONKERS — A suspended New York City police detective who was hailed for his work with children was arrested yesterday by Yonkers police on charges that he sexually abused two 11-year-old girls in the Royal Regency Hotel on Tuckahoe Road earlier this month.
Brian Tuitt, 38, of Pine Island, N.Y., in Orange County was charged with two felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
Tuitt, a member of the NYPD for almost two decades, has been featured on television and in newspapers for his work with children in this country and overseas. He was picked up at his home by Yonkers Detective Sgt. John D'Alessandro, the head of the department's Child Abuse Squad, and Detectives James Conca and Patricia Yasinski.
The detectives executed a search warrant at Tuitt's home and removed evidence, but D'Alessandro declined to say what it was. Tuitt was home alone and surrendered peacefully, saying nothing to the detectives yesterday afternoon, police said.
He was to spend the night in the city jail on Alexander Street and be arraigned today in City Court.
Tuitt was featured in a Sept. 9, 2001, article in the Los Angeles Times Westside and described as a well-liked counselor at a Los Angeles camp. In addition, he participated on his own vacation time at a camp in Croatia.
"This guy is a classic pedophile," D'Alessandro said. "In everything he does, he surrounds himself with kids."
The sergeant said Yonkers police would be working with other agencies to see if Tuitt was responsible for abusing other children.
The Yonkers case involved two cousins who live out of state but were staying at the Tuckahoe Road hotel because the mother of one of them was in the area on business, police said. Tuitt is a family friend, police said.
"He clearly used his friendship with the family to get access to the kids," D'Alessandro said.
On the morning of Feb. 3, Tuitt was at the hotel with the woman and the two girls. The woman left them alone, and the detective sexually assaulted the children, D'Alessandro said.
"He was a trusted family friend," D'Alessandro said. "It would not be unusual for him to be alone with them."
Later that day, Tuitt went to work but was arrested and suspended by the NYPD at 4:30 p.m. The arrest was in the Bronx and was in connection with an unrelated case, authorities said. He had been assigned to the NYPD's Community Affairs Division.
Yonkers police launched their investigation after the woman reported the hotel incident to them on Feb. 8.
Authorities said Tuitt has children, and they were removed from his home earlier by Orange County Child Protective Services.
Posted by Nealus at February 17, 2005 11:52 AM
