AUSTINTOWN MOLESTATION Teen gets 3 years for sex abuse of children

The 17-year-old gave a short apology to his victims' parents.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In Mahoning County Juvenile Court, exhaustion, relief and deep sadness could be heard all at once in the quiet sobs coming from the parents of Brian Dudek's young victims.
Parents buried their faces in their hands and wept as Dudek, 17, was handcuffed and led out of the juvenile courtroom by a Mahoning County deputy sheriff. He was sentenced by Magistrate Donna McCollum to spend a minimum of three years in a state juvenile prison for sexually assaulting six children younger than 8 at his mother's Austintown home day-care business.
If Dudek serves the maximum, he will be in prison until he is 21. He also will have to register with the state as a sexually oriented offender in the future.
"I think we're glad he went away in cuffs today," said one parent of a victim. Another said, "No [jail] time is enough."
Guilty plea
Dudek pleaded guilty in February to six counts of felony gross sexual imposition for assaulting the children. Neither he nor his mother, who was sitting at the defense table, showed any emotion when he was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.
His father, however, cried.
Atty. Gary Van Brocklin, who represents Dudek, said he would file objections to the sentence and asked McCollum to release Dudek until a hearing could be held on the objections.
McCollum denied the request.
Van Brocklin also argued that Dudek should be sentenced to counseling instead of jail. A counselor who has been working with Dudek testified that the teen posed a low risk of assaulting children in the future.
But one parent of a victim told McCollum that she believes counseling would not be enough punishment for Dudek. She noted that all of Dudek's young victims are receiving counseling as a result of the assaults.
"Counseling is not a punishment, because if that is the case, all the children are being punished," the parent said.
He apologizes
As part of his sentencing, Dudek stood and gave a short apology to his victims' parents, who were seated in the jury box.
"I'm sorry. Anything that happened, I have to take to my grave," he said, shrugging. "There's nothing I can do about it other than say I'm sorry."
Victims' parents then tearfully told McCollum how Dudek had affected their lives and the lives of their children.
One mother said her daughter has yet to talk about the assaults with her.
"She has told the counselor that she doesn't want Mommy to cry," she said.
Another said her daughter fears that Dudek will come to her home.
"She still worries that he'll be outside her window, waiting to take her."
Parents have said area residents have been taking their children to Dudek's mother's day care on Cumberland Drive in Austintown for years. The investigation into the assaults began last spring, when a girl told her mother she had been sexually abused by Dudek.
The girl gave her parents and police names of other children who had been assaulted. Parents, police and counselors told other parents, who talked with their children about the assaults. Those children gave police the names of other boys and girls who had been assaulted.
Mother was away
The children said Dudek's mother had been in her yard or out of the home running errands when the abuse occurred.
Dudek was arrested in September and charged with 12 counts of gross sexual imposition. A 13th count was added later. Prosecutors agreed to drop seven gross sexual imposition charges against Dudek in exchange for his guilty plea.
hill@vindy.com