http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101119/NEWS02/711199913
Published November 19, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
Janitor accused of raping child
By ERIC FRANCIS
CORRESPONDENT
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A janitor at the Springfield Hospital is facing the potential of up to life in prison after a 15-year-old girl came forward and told authorities he had repeatedly raped and otherwise sexually assaulted her over the course of four years beginning when she was a second-grader.
Peter Gusha, 50, who grew up in Union Village and has lived and worked over the years in Bradford, Hartland, South Royalton and White River Junction, was ordered held at the Springfield jail for lack of $25,000 bail after he entered innocent pleas on Wednesday afternoon to a felony count of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and a second felony count of repeated aggravated sexual assault, the “listed offense” that allows for imposition of a life sentence.
Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Megan Sheridan wrote that when she and another detective confronted and interviewed Gusha at his residence in Springfield on Tuesday, he stopped well short of corroborating the girl’s account of years of continuous sexual abuse, but Sheridan said Gusha did admit to having sex with the girl when she lived in Hartland on one occasion and to a range of other activities that he claimed were initiated by the victim, according to court documents.
“Gusha was very upset about what he had done and repeatedly apologized for his behavior,” Sheridan recalled in her affidavit, adding that Gusha told the detectives he “blamed his behavior on his then-alcoholism and drug problem. He told us that during this time he was drinking alcohol, using cocaine and marijuana freely. (He said) he has not sexually assaulted anyone else.”
Sheridan also wrote that Gusha claimed he had warned the girl’s mother that her daughter should not be left alone with him because he said the grade-schooler was supposedly, “coming on to him too strongly,” Sheridan wrote.
Speaking to reporters at the criminal court in White River Junction immediately after Gusha’s arraignment Wednesday, the girl’s mother said she had no inkling that there was anything untoward going on involving Gusha and her daughter.
“I trusted him (but) I will never trust anyone again,” the girl’s mother said, wiping away tears and adding, “My daughter is 15 now and she is in and out of hospitals because she tried to commit suicide and it is all because of him. She’ll never have a normal life because of him.”
The woman said that her daughter was subsequently raped by another man she knew.
She said it was only when information about the second alleged rape incident came to light that the girl began telling counselors about what Gusha had allegedly done to her when she was even younger. “He had threatened to kill me if she told,” the woman said. Even though the girl is now in a special school for troubled teenagers out of state, “since they started interviewing her (she) has gotten worse,” she added.
In her affidavit, Sheridan wrote that after his arrest, as he was being driven to the State Police barracks in Royalton for processing, Gusha asked her and Detective Sgt. John Hagen “if the Lord forgives people for their mistakes.”
“(Gusha) stated that he hoped so,” Sheridan wrote, continuing that a crying Gusha then explained that since he couldn’t read or write he wanted to instead tape record his statement. “Gusha then made a sworn, recorded audio statement apologizing to (the girl) for touching her private areas and for having sex with her,” Sheridan wrote, adding, “He told me he wished it never happened and that he hoped she would be able to move on with her life.” http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101119/NEWS02/711199913
Janitor accused of raping child
By ERIC FRANCIS
CORRESPONDENT
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A janitor at the Springfield Hospital is facing the potential of up to life in prison after a 15-year-old girl came forward and told authorities he had repeatedly raped and otherwise sexually assaulted her over the course of four years beginning when she was a second-grader.
Peter Gusha, 50, who grew up in Union Village and has lived and worked over the years in Bradford, Hartland, South Royalton and White River Junction, was ordered held at the Springfield jail for lack of $25,000 bail after he entered innocent pleas on Wednesday afternoon to a felony count of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and a second felony count of repeated aggravated sexual assault, the “listed offense” that allows for imposition of a life sentence.
Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Megan Sheridan wrote that when she and another detective confronted and interviewed Gusha at his residence in Springfield on Tuesday, he stopped well short of corroborating the girl’s account of years of continuous sexual abuse, but Sheridan said Gusha did admit to having sex with the girl when she lived in Hartland on one occasion and to a range of other activities that he claimed were initiated by the victim, according to court documents.
“Gusha was very upset about what he had done and repeatedly apologized for his behavior,” Sheridan recalled in her affidavit, adding that Gusha told the detectives he “blamed his behavior on his then-alcoholism and drug problem. He told us that during this time he was drinking alcohol, using cocaine and marijuana freely. (He said) he has not sexually assaulted anyone else.”
Sheridan also wrote that Gusha claimed he had warned the girl’s mother that her daughter should not be left alone with him because he said the grade-schooler was supposedly, “coming on to him too strongly,” Sheridan wrote.
Speaking to reporters at the criminal court in White River Junction immediately after Gusha’s arraignment Wednesday, the girl’s mother said she had no inkling that there was anything untoward going on involving Gusha and her daughter.
“I trusted him (but) I will never trust anyone again,” the girl’s mother said, wiping away tears and adding, “My daughter is 15 now and she is in and out of hospitals because she tried to commit suicide and it is all because of him. She’ll never have a normal life because of him.”
The woman said that her daughter was subsequently raped by another man she knew.
She said it was only when information about the second alleged rape incident came to light that the girl began telling counselors about what Gusha had allegedly done to her when she was even younger. “He had threatened to kill me if she told,” the woman said. Even though the girl is now in a special school for troubled teenagers out of state, “since they started interviewing her (she) has gotten worse,” she added.
In her affidavit, Sheridan wrote that after his arrest, as he was being driven to the State Police barracks in Royalton for processing, Gusha asked her and Detective Sgt. John Hagen “if the Lord forgives people for their mistakes.”
“(Gusha) stated that he hoped so,” Sheridan wrote, continuing that a crying Gusha then explained that since he couldn’t read or write he wanted to instead tape record his statement. “Gusha then made a sworn, recorded audio statement apologizing to (the girl) for touching her private areas and for having sex with her,” Sheridan wrote, adding, “He told me he wished it never happened and that he hoped she would be able to move on with her life.” http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101119/NEWS02/711199913
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