Firefighter faces sex abuse chargesBETHLEHEM - A volunteer firefighter was charged with having sexual contact with a 13-year-old boy, also abused by a former county sheriff's deputy, authorities said.Stephen Wieland, Jr., 26, was arraigned Saturday with second-degree sodomy, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of second-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. He was released on $500 bail and ordered back to court Oct. 16. Bethlehem Police Sgt. Thomas Heffernan said police were alerted to Wieland after a follow-up investigation on Brian Rowe of Delmar, a 36-year-old former Albany County deputy also charged with abusing the boy. Wieland was accused of sexually abusing the teen in Rowe's home and in the firehouse, five miles south of Albany. Both men were members of the fire department, and because the abuse took place around the same time, they were probably aware of each other's activity. Investigators said they do not believe any other
children were involved or that anyone else abused the
boy. Submitted by: Werner Hetzner Source: Schenectady Gazette 9/25/02 |
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