Trial set in child sex-abuse case

The accuser came forward two years ago.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A January trial date has been set for Charles B. Dillie, who is accused of engaging in sexual contact with a boy while with the Army in Germany.

Dillie, 57, of Trumbull Avenue was arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. Judge Christopher A. Boyko set a pretrial conference for Jan. 16 and the jury trial for Jan. 26.

A federal grand jury in Cleveland indicted Dillie last week. He is free on $20,000 bond.

The accuser, now 29 and living in Colorado, reported his allegations to the Army’s military police in 2006 after learning that Dillie was certified as a kindergarten teacher. The young man said he was worried that Dillie might “do this again,” according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Carlotta Sheets with the Trumbull County Educational Service Center has said Dillie is not on file as a substitute teacher in Trumbull County and she had not heard of him. It has not been determined whether he taught anywhere in Trumbull County.

The affidavit said Dillie and the boy’s father were stationed in Boeblingen, Germany, in 1984, when the boy was 5.

The accuser said his parents would allow him to stay weekends with Dillie at his off-base apartment in Germany.

About twice a month for a number of years, Dillie would get the boy undressed and touch him sexually, the accuser said.

The accuser turned over to authorities an e-mail he said Dillie had sent him, in 2005, apol-ogizing.

The FBI also received an e-mail Dillie is alleged to have written to the victim’s mother in which he admitted conduct that was “inappropriate.” According to the affidavit, Dillie told the woman, “What matters is that I did something that was wrong, hurtful to [the victim], against the law and unforgivable.”

Dillie gave an interview to military police Feb. 8, 2006, at the Warren Police Department in which he gave a sworn statement admitting sexual contact with the boy.

If convicted, Dillie could be sentenced to three years in prison.