Leach guilty of sex assault
The Rev. Norman Leach, accused of fondling a Boy Scout in the troop he created, walked into Lancaster County Court Wednesday and ended the prospects of a trial.
Leach, 63, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of misdemeanor third-degree sexual assault, even as reports surfaced that the nationally recognized Scout leader had molested boys in the 1960s while working for the Scouts in York.
His plea deal leaves open the possibility of additional charges.
"We wanted to make sure if new victims came forward we would be able to prosecute," Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey said Wednesday.
Prosecutors alleged that Leach had sexual contact with a teenage Scout at Leach's home between Oct. 16 and March 1.
Four other Scouts, ages 12 to 15, told police that Leach insisted they sleep in his bed when they spent the night, but they did not allege Leach touched them inappropriately.
Since the investigation began, several men have come forward to say they were abused by Leach from 1963 to 1967, when he was working in York for the Boy Scouts' Cornhusker Council.
Officials from Lincoln Police, the Child Advocacy Center and the Cornhusker Council said they have received calls about incidents in the 1960s.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said Wednesday that three men in their 50s contacted his investigators in the last two weeks to report that they were also fondled by Leach in the early to mid-1960s when he was in York.
Steve Smith, director of the council, said he got a call from a man who said he was representing at least four men who had been abused by Leach.
Smith said the men had apparently discovered they had similar experiences with Leach and came forward in an effort to lend support to the current victim.
Smith referred the caller to the police.
Lynn Ayers, director of the Child Advocacy Center, said that in October - before the current investigation started - aman called to say he'd been molested by Leach in the 1960s.
Ayers said she reported the call to police. Lincoln Police Investigator Kerry Crosby acknowledged getting the call from the center but said police did not investigate because the man never called them to report it.
Even if he had, Crosby said, there is little police could have done other than document it because it was too old to be prosecuted.
And there would be ethical issues involved in sharing 40-year-old unsubstantiated allegations about Leach to organizations that he worked with, Chief Casady said.
Police need to proceed carefully with such belated reports, Crosby said, taking into consideration the veracity of the report and whether the reporting person could have an ulterior motive.
Lacey declined to comment on whether anyone had reported abuse from Leach's time in York. But he did say the statute of limitations would prohibit prosecution of 40-year-old allegations.
Until last week, state law limited prosecutions on child sex assaults to within seven years of the time a victim turns 16.
Last week the governor signed into law a bill that extends the statute of limitations indefinitely, though it is not retroactive and so would not apply to reports from the 1960s.
Leach was head of the Lincoln Interfaith Council for nearly 15 years and worked with refugees. He was instrumental in creating the Asian Community and Cultural Center and helping start an African multicultural center and Faces of the Middle East.
He continued a lifelong association with Boy Scouts when he started Troop 911 in 1997.
Many of the Scouts are refugees from other countries, and the troop gained national recognition for its ethnic diversity. It made the cover of a national Scouting magazine, before Scouting officials knew Leach had been convicted in California in 1975 of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to police and news reports, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for prosecutors dismissing felony charges.
Leach had moved from Nebraska to San Francisco and earned degrees from the San Francisco Theological Seminary before getting a job as executive director of a fledgling nonprofit organization in Napa, Calif., called Aldea Inc. The organization ran a few group homes for troubled teens.
The California charges involved two teenagers, ages 16 and 19, and the incidents took place at Leach's home and on a camping trip, said Napa Police Chief Dan Monez. He declined to comment further.
Mary Davis, who was on the Aldea board of directors at the time, said one of the allegations came from a boy who lived at one of the homes.
Davis, who still is connected with what is now Aldea Children and Family Services, saidLeach maintained his innocence, but the board voted unanimously to fire him.
At the time, Davis said, she wanted to believe Leach.
"I liked Norm a lot," she said. "I think everybody did."
Hearing about the allegations in Lincoln angered her.
"I'm outraged if it's true, that it happened to another child," she said.
Leach left Napa and began working for the San Francisco Council of Churches, eventually becoming its executive director.
Paul Chaffee, executive director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San Francisco, worked with Leach for the church council. He said no one there was aware of the conviction in Napa.
The San Francisco council folded in 1989 because of financial problems, and Leach moved to become head of the Lincoln Interfaith Council.
No one in Lincoln apparently knew of the 1975 conviction until the current investigation.
The Boy Scouts of America has an "ineligible volunteer" list that predates Leach's 1975 conviction, but Leach was not on the list, said national spokesman Gregg Shields.
It's possible, he said, that Scouting authorities in Napa were unaware of the conviction and therefore did not forward his name to national headquarters.
"He could have just drove out of town," Shields said.
Leach on Wednesday declined to comment on the current charges or those from 1975. He also declined to comment on the new allegations from the 1960s, except to say it is the first he's heard of them.
Leach's sentencing is set for June 4. He faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Ayers, whose Child Advocacy Center has been working with the Troop 911 members since the allegations surfaced, said the plea is a good thing for the victim.
"For us and from this end, if (the victim) doesn't have to go to court and testify, that's a good thing, although he was prepared to do so."
Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist at journalstar.com. Staff writer Cindy Lange-Kubick contributed to this report.
Leach, 63, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of misdemeanor third-degree sexual assault, even as reports surfaced that the nationally recognized Scout leader had molested boys in the 1960s while working for the Scouts in York.
His plea deal leaves open the possibility of additional charges.
"We wanted to make sure if new victims came forward we would be able to prosecute," Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey said Wednesday.
Prosecutors alleged that Leach had sexual contact with a teenage Scout at Leach's home between Oct. 16 and March 1.
Four other Scouts, ages 12 to 15, told police that Leach insisted they sleep in his bed when they spent the night, but they did not allege Leach touched them inappropriately.
Since the investigation began, several men have come forward to say they were abused by Leach from 1963 to 1967, when he was working in York for the Boy Scouts' Cornhusker Council.
Officials from Lincoln Police, the Child Advocacy Center and the Cornhusker Council said they have received calls about incidents in the 1960s.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said Wednesday that three men in their 50s contacted his investigators in the last two weeks to report that they were also fondled by Leach in the early to mid-1960s when he was in York.
Steve Smith, director of the council, said he got a call from a man who said he was representing at least four men who had been abused by Leach.
Smith said the men had apparently discovered they had similar experiences with Leach and came forward in an effort to lend support to the current victim.
Smith referred the caller to the police.
Lynn Ayers, director of the Child Advocacy Center, said that in October - before the current investigation started - aman called to say he'd been molested by Leach in the 1960s.
Ayers said she reported the call to police. Lincoln Police Investigator Kerry Crosby acknowledged getting the call from the center but said police did not investigate because the man never called them to report it.
Even if he had, Crosby said, there is little police could have done other than document it because it was too old to be prosecuted.
And there would be ethical issues involved in sharing 40-year-old unsubstantiated allegations about Leach to organizations that he worked with, Chief Casady said.
Police need to proceed carefully with such belated reports, Crosby said, taking into consideration the veracity of the report and whether the reporting person could have an ulterior motive.
Lacey declined to comment on whether anyone had reported abuse from Leach's time in York. But he did say the statute of limitations would prohibit prosecution of 40-year-old allegations.
Until last week, state law limited prosecutions on child sex assaults to within seven years of the time a victim turns 16.
Last week the governor signed into law a bill that extends the statute of limitations indefinitely, though it is not retroactive and so would not apply to reports from the 1960s.
Leach was head of the Lincoln Interfaith Council for nearly 15 years and worked with refugees. He was instrumental in creating the Asian Community and Cultural Center and helping start an African multicultural center and Faces of the Middle East.
He continued a lifelong association with Boy Scouts when he started Troop 911 in 1997.
Many of the Scouts are refugees from other countries, and the troop gained national recognition for its ethnic diversity. It made the cover of a national Scouting magazine, before Scouting officials knew Leach had been convicted in California in 1975 of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to police and news reports, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for prosecutors dismissing felony charges.
Leach had moved from Nebraska to San Francisco and earned degrees from the San Francisco Theological Seminary before getting a job as executive director of a fledgling nonprofit organization in Napa, Calif., called Aldea Inc. The organization ran a few group homes for troubled teens.
The California charges involved two teenagers, ages 16 and 19, and the incidents took place at Leach's home and on a camping trip, said Napa Police Chief Dan Monez. He declined to comment further.
Mary Davis, who was on the Aldea board of directors at the time, said one of the allegations came from a boy who lived at one of the homes.
Davis, who still is connected with what is now Aldea Children and Family Services, saidLeach maintained his innocence, but the board voted unanimously to fire him.
At the time, Davis said, she wanted to believe Leach.
"I liked Norm a lot," she said. "I think everybody did."
Hearing about the allegations in Lincoln angered her.
"I'm outraged if it's true, that it happened to another child," she said.
Leach left Napa and began working for the San Francisco Council of Churches, eventually becoming its executive director.
Paul Chaffee, executive director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San Francisco, worked with Leach for the church council. He said no one there was aware of the conviction in Napa.
The San Francisco council folded in 1989 because of financial problems, and Leach moved to become head of the Lincoln Interfaith Council.
No one in Lincoln apparently knew of the 1975 conviction until the current investigation.
The Boy Scouts of America has an "ineligible volunteer" list that predates Leach's 1975 conviction, but Leach was not on the list, said national spokesman Gregg Shields.
It's possible, he said, that Scouting authorities in Napa were unaware of the conviction and therefore did not forward his name to national headquarters.
"He could have just drove out of town," Shields said.
Leach on Wednesday declined to comment on the current charges or those from 1975. He also declined to comment on the new allegations from the 1960s, except to say it is the first he's heard of them.
Leach's sentencing is set for June 4. He faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Ayers, whose Child Advocacy Center has been working with the Troop 911 members since the allegations surfaced, said the plea is a good thing for the victim.
"For us and from this end, if (the victim) doesn't have to go to court and testify, that's a good thing, although he was prepared to do so."
Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist at journalstar.com. Staff writer Cindy Lange-Kubick contributed to this report.
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