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April 30, 2005
Officer charged with child rape
The Upper Bucks community opened its heart to Hilltown Township Patrolman James Kane after he was severely injured in the line of duty, but on Friday, District Attorney Diane E. Gibbons said there is a much darker side to the injured policeman.
She announced Kane's arrest on charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted a boy over six years.
Kane, 55, was taken into custody late Thursday after the boy's mother stepped forward earlier in the week and turned over a letter she received from the victim, now a college student, revealing the alleged abuse. After interviewing the victim and wiretapping a phone call between him and Kane, Gibbons said, county detectives arrested Kane.
Gibbons said some of the assaults on the boy happened while Kane was in uniform. In fact, she said, Kane would often visit the boy's house while on duty and rape the child.
''The abuse of police authority is an unspeakable crime,'' Gibbons said. ''The abuse of a child by a police officer is beyond my ability to comprehend. He did this over a period of six years.''
Kane was arraigned by Ottsville District Judge M. Kay Dubree on charges of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and possession of child pornography.
He was committed to Bucks County Prison under $1 million bail. Gibbons said Kane faces a minimum of five years in prison, but that if he is convicted he would probably receive a much longer jail term. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 25 before Dubree.
Kane has been on leave from the Hilltown police since last year when he was severely injured by a drunken driver while assisting a police officer in a traffic stop. Daulton A. James, 20, of Quakertown, pleaded guilty to driving his car into the back of Kane's cruiser and then hitting Kane, sending the policeman headfirst into the windshield of James' car. James is serving a prison sentence of 2 1/2 to five years.
Gibbons said Kane's victim was 11 years old when the assaults began and continued until last year. She said Kane sexually assaulted the boy and often showed him photographs of young boys and girls engaged in sex acts.
''He [the victim] has had a hard time coming to terms with this situation,'' Gibbons said. ''It took him awhile to step forward. It could not have been easy for him to report this to law enforcement since the man who was raping him is a member of law enforcement.''
Gibbons said the boy's mother received a letter from her son on March 23 outlining the accusations against Kane. On Wednesday, Gibbons said, the mother asked to see a member of her staff. She was interviewed by First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis, who examined the letter.
That night, Zellis said, the teenager was flown back to Bucks County and interviewed by detectives. On Thursday, detectives wiretapped a phone conversation between the student and Kane, Gibbons said, in which Kane admitted to the assaults.
A partial transcript of the conversation released by Gibbons indicates the teenager asked Kane, ''Are you sorry at all?'' Kane responded, ''Yes I am, very.'' The victim then asked Kane, ''Do you admit the sex was wrong?'' Kane answered, ''Absolutely, it's something that should of never happened.''
After his arrest, Gibbons said, Kane confessed to the assaults during an interview with county detectives at the state police barracks in Dublin.
Kane, who lives at 1893 Clearview Road in Hilltown, joined the township police in 1986. Previously he was a police officer in Souderton and West Conshohocken in Montgomery County.
The accident on the night of Aug. 20 on E. Church Road in Telford initially left Kane in a coma. He awoke after 10 days, and since then has struggled through a difficult outpatient rehabilitation at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Malvern.
Since beginning rehabilitation he has regained his ability to speak and has overcome other neurological injuries. He has also undergone physical therapy to recover from a broken leg. In an interview with The Morning Call in December, Kane said he had no memory of the accident.
''From what I do recall, from what I've been told and pictures I've seen, I don't want to remember,'' Kane said then.
Late last year, Tylersport businessman Paul Unruh organized a fund-raising campaign to help Kane's family, raising about $4,500. Unruh, the owner of Nanny's Family Store, said he didn't know Kane before the accident, and organized the campaign because he believed the Kane family was in need. He said the purpose of the fund-raising was to help out the family before Christmas.
''I hope nobody who helped us feels guilty,'' Unruh said. ''They were really a needy family.''
Posted by Nealus at April 30, 2005 05:02 PM
