'Plea Agreement For No Jail Blows Up; Glastonbury Couple Accused Of Abusing Boys Headed To Trial


New claims from one of the alleged victims leads to decision to go to trial.

By DAVID OWENS and KELLY GLISTA, dowens@courant.comThe Hartford Courant
April 5, 2013

THE SYSTEM'S ALL SCREWED UP!

HARTFORD—

— A judge on Friday allowed two Glastonbury men, accused two years ago of sexually assaulting two of their nine adopted boys, to withdraw their no-contest pleas and take their cases to trial.

The unusual action came during what was to be a sentencing hearing for George Harasz and Douglas Wirth, who entered pleas in January to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor. They agreed to suspended prison sentences. The only issue for Friday's hearing was to be whether each would be required to register as sex offenders.

But a new allegation of sexual assault against Harasz by one of the victims, contained in a pre-sentence investigation of Harasz, helped scrap the plea agreement. The case was further clouded Friday by disclosure in court of new allegations of abuse by three other of the nine children. No new criminal charges have been filed.

The new information gives rise to the possibility of new criminal charges, and therefore continuing with Friday's planned sentencing would not have been prudent, prosecutor David Zagaja told Judge Joan K. Alexander. Further, Zagaja said, the victim has said he wants to testify against Wirth and Harasz at trial.

"I think the only proper resolution of this matter is to try it," Zagaja said.

Initially, Harasz, 49, was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, aggravated first-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and cruelty to persons. Wirth, 45, was initially charged with third-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Those charges were reduced to a single charge for each man as part of the plea agreement.

Defense attorneys Hubert J. Santos, representing Harasz, and Michael Dwyer, representing Wirth, reached the same conclusion and asked the judge to allow their clients to withdraw the no-contest pleas they entered in January.

"This case needs to be tried so these men can clear their names," Santos said.

The judge agreed to allow them to withdraw the pleas. While acknowledging a trial is a risk for the prosecution and the defense, Alexander said having a trial is "in the interest of justice. The facts must be shown and must be shown publicly."

The new allegations of abuse revealed in the pre-sentence investigation are "dramatically different and more extreme," the judge said.

"[The son said] he has scars from being held down and raped and that those injuries were inflicted by a weapon," Zagaja said, quoting the report.

Alexander also had pointed questions for a state Department of Children and Families lawyer. She asked why a DCF social worker, who accompanied the victim to the interview with a probation officer, heard the new allegation of sexual assault and did not report it to law enforcement. State law requires DCF officials to report such allegations to law enforcement within 12 hours, she noted.

Matthew LaRock, a DCF attorney who was in court Friday, responded that the DCF worker thought the allegation was part and parcel of the criminal case pending against Wirth and Harasz.

Alexander called the response "disingenuous."

The victim noted in the interview that he had never told investigators about the incident, the judge said. "How could that be interpreted as part and parcel," she asked.

Later, DCF Commissioner Joette Katz, who was also in court, said the new allegation would immediately be referred for investigation. She also revealed that three of five younger children the couple adopted have alleged abuse by Wirth and Harasz to counselors.

Although the sentencing did not proceed, one of the alleged teenage victims spoke and urged that Wirth and Harasz be jailed. He said the physical, psychological and sexual abuse began when he was 6 years old. Wirth and Harasz would touch him and violate him, he said, and would make him satisfy them sexually. The alleged victim — the same one who made the new allegations — said Harasz and Wirth abused him when no one else was around.

"They took turns raping me over and over," he said. "Anyone who would do this to a child is a sick, demented person."

Several others people spoke on behalf of Wirth and Harasz, including Carlos Harasz, the brother of two of the men who have made allegations against their parents; Harasz's biological son and daughter; and Wirth's father Russell Wirth. They called the accusers liars and said they were mentally ill.

Carlos Harasz said his brother was lying. The abuse he described, Carlos Harasz said, was what he and his brothers instead suffered at the hand of other foster parents. Harasz and Wirth did not abuse them, he said.

"I told the truth," Carlos Harasz said, "that nothing ever happened."

Harasz and Wirth, Carlos Harasz said, gave he and his brothers a "normal, painless life" after years of being abused and neglected by other foster families and his own mother. He asked why it took three incidents to get him removed from his mother's home, but only "one statement from a disturbed kid to kill the souls of Doug and George."

DCF and the police failed to properly investigate and "took the word of an angry, damaged, disturbed boy and destroyed a family." He said "DCF was played by my brothers."

Russell Wirth described his son and Harasz as "loving, dedicated parents" who were destroyed by the false allegations of the children they sought to help.

"Take responsibility for your actions," he said to the three older brothers aligned against Wirth and Harasz. "You know the truth. The truth will set you free."

Santos said there are school reports that outline lying by the accusers and hallucinations on the part of one.

Dwyer, the attorney for Wirth, said that at a trial witnesses, including therapists, would undercut the allegations the brothers have made against Wirth and Harasz.

Zagaja said the plea agreement was an appropriate resolution of the case given the challenge the state would face in meeting its burden of proof at a trial.

The judge outlined several of those problems before allowing the men to withdraw their pleas. She said DCF had been actively involved with the family, had investigated allegations of abuse, and had sustained one. A question at trial will be whether the previous complaints were true or whether DCF had been incompetent. The state also has no forensic evidence of the assaults, she said.

The judge also noted that DCF also departed from its own rules in allowing Wirth and Harasz to adopt so many children. Twice, the couple was granted waivers to adopt more children, she noted.

She ordered the parties back to court June 5. The long continuance is to allow police to investigate the new allegations and to report to prosecutors.

The men adopted nine boys, from three sibling groups, beginning in 2000. Police began an investigation in February 2011, and the boys were removed from the home. A second investigation began six months later.

Horrible case. No reason to think this is a beginning of a trend among gay adopters though.

Or, it's just been kept in the closet til now.

such a shame,, children can lie and ruin lives, but so can offenders,,,

it is interesting they adopted so many boys though, and ALL from a bckground of sexual abuse?

If, you read th first couple lines of the story, you would have seen the pedos already tried to deal a bargain. They are guilty.
They admitted it.

I dont view pleas as admission of guilt,,, I also read

'Zagaja said the plea agreement was an appropriate resolution of the case given the challenge the state would face in meeting its burden of proof at a trial.
'

do the kids have a choice on whether they are adopted adopted by a gay couple or a normal couple?

that would suck if they didn't...

I will go there first, LGBT supporters will not appreciate that statement,, to them gay is 'normal'

but , I dont think younger adopted children get any say in the matter, though at a certain age their input may be considered,,,,just like it would be if their biological parents were fighting for custody,,,,

BTW most pedophiles are heterosexual, even in cases of same sex abuse.

thats an interesting statement on sexual identity

so, there are three sexual preferences?

attraction to male, attraction to female, and attraction to child (where gender is unimportant)?


how does a heterosexual male, for instance become aroused by a nother male,, regardless of their age?

or a heterosexual female beocme aroused by another female, regardless of age?

wouldnt it therefore be more accurate to label themself BISEXUAL,,,,id they are capable of arousal by either male or female appearance?

is the statement about what pedophiles are or about what KNOWN pedophiles are?

could it be on is more likely to be captured and found out when living a double life (heterosexual but attracted to same sex at the same time)?

sexual preference and labels are all so complex and interesting,,,,

don't care



they should have a say in the matter, it is their life...

There does seem to be a lot of crimes that involve male adults on male children. However it is the right of the accused to request a withdrawal of their no contest plea and a right to go to trail.

Still I don’t know if the defendants are guilty or the victims are lying. I’m sure many remember the Duke Lacrosse where the girl that was the victim lied about what happen, after destroying those boys’ lives.

It is up to the courts to decide. There is a lot of pressure on prosecutors to get convictions on all people that are accused of a sex crime, regardless if the accused did not do it. It is also bad for the accused, even if they are innocent, if the prosecutor is ambitious wanting to win for political points especially if they want to run for public offices in the future. After all, many that is accused and yet innocent would accept a plea deal for fear if they go to court and be found guilt and receive a harsher sentencing. A plea deal is nothing more then a way for a prosecutor to rap up many wins with little effort by scarring people. It really is not about justice.

I remember seeing a news report years ago where it was found out that a police officer was framing a guy with sexual charges and ruin that guy’s life. The accused man became fearful of being around children, even his own grand children, alone for fear someone else would say something.

I agree. Pleas are struck for many reasons and are no more an admission of guilt of the accused than it is an admission of lying or golddigging of the accuser

Back it up with fact.

what fact? one man playing with another man/boys sausage is gay... how is that heterosexual?

He said, Man/bays sausage!!

Well played, sir!!

There is a difference between homosexual behaviour and homosexuality, which I am sure you learned last time you were in prison. There are generally considered two types of pedophiles (although there is discussion of 4 pathways), Fixed and Regressed. Fixed means that that is what you are attracted to; Regressed means that under stress a person may offend. Ergo, many "normal" people can offend as pedophiles.

what tests are done to determine if someone is 'homosexual' or just participating in 'homosexual behavior'?

and what is 'bisexual'? or just heterosexual participating in 'homosexual behavior'?

isnt all this testament to how versatile and ADAPTABLE human sexuality is, as opposed to being 'hard wired'?



this is part of the issue I have with psychology,, seems like they make stuff up as they go along,,, based upon public trends and politics,,,,rather than medical/scientific study,,,,,,


whenever political movements occur, or enough of the right people are affected by something,, there is suddenly some explanation and label from the psychologists,,,,

You've only offered opinion with no fact to back it up