How Could You? Hall of Shame-John Robert Lohr UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Cumberland, Pennsylvania, Child and Youth Services advisory board member John R. Lohr, 56, “is awaiting extradition from West Virginia on charges that he sexually assaulted a boy more than 100 times over four years.
A teenage boy told Pennsylvania State Police that John R. Lohr, 56, of Cumberland appeared to be intoxicated when he approached the boy late one night in October 2009, pulled the boy’s pants down and forced oral sex on him, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by troopers at the Waynesburg barracks.
That, the boy told police, marked the beginning of a yearslong pattern in which Mr. Lohr either forced the boy into sex acts or forced himself on the boy.
The boy also told state police Mr. Lohr “would threaten him with a kitchen knife” and threatened to kill the boy and his siblings if he told anyone, troopers wrote in the affidavit. The boy also told troopers Mr. Lohr supplied him with energy drinks and a little white pill to keep him awake during the assaults.
Troopers said they began investigating in mid-August after the boy’s guardian overheard a conversation between the boy and one of his relatives that sounded bizarre to her. She then asked the boy whether Mr. Lohr ever touched him inappropriately.
The woman confronted Mr. Lohr, who confessed to her that he had, according to the affidavit.
Mr. Lohr asked the woman to give him an hour before she called police and then left in a van, troopers wrote.
Mr. Lohr was arrested Thursday in Marion County, W.Va., and has been held in the North Central Regional Jail in Greenwood, W.Va., since then.
He has an extradition hearing scheduled for Sept. 9, according to the Greene County district attorney’s office and state police.
Mr. Lohr faces charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, corruption of minors and indecent assault. He did not have an attorney on file in Greene County, where the charges were filed.
Chuck Morris, chairman of the Greene County board of commissioners, said he was notified a few weeks ago that Mr. Lohr was the subject of an investigation. Mr. Morris said he is consulting with a county solicitor to determine what to do about Mr. Lohr’s position on the advisory board, which he has been on for at least three years. Mr. Morris said Mr. Lohr did not come into contact with children as part of his service with the advisory board, which focuses largely on guiding and shaping CYS policy.
“Everyone was kind of taken by surprise,” Mr. Morris said. “This is a pretty unusual situation. I don’t know what we do.”” [Really? You don’t know what to do?Are you brain-dead?]
Greene County CYS board member charged with child sex assault
[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 9/4/13 by Liz Navratil]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“A Cumberland Township man accused of raping a young boy in his care will stand trial on numerous sex-related charges, Greene County Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson ruled Thursday.
Charges against John Robert Lohr, 56, of 671 Ceylon Road, Carmichaels, were held over for court following a preliminary hearing. A request by Lohr’s attorney, Harry Cancelmi, to reduce the bail was denied by Watson. Lohr is currently being held in Greene County Prison on $750,000 straight bond.
He was charged Aug. 22 in Watson’s court with rape by forcible compulsion, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, corruption of minors when the defendant is 18 years of age or older and indecent assault by forcible compulsion.
The young boy that Lohr is alleged to have assaulted told the court he “always refused,” and fought with Lohr on several occasions. He said he eventually quit fighting him physically but always told him no. He said he “was hoping it would stop,” but he “knew there no stopping him.”
The boy described Lohr as a heavy daily drinker and said it was while he was very intoxicated that Lohr first started to sexually assault him Oct. 24, 2009. The next instance came about a month later, he told the court. After that, he said it escalated to at least once a week until Aug. 14, 2013. On some of those occasions, a knife was used in a threatening manner, the boy said. In one instance he said Lohr told him he had a gun and he would kill him if he didn’t cooperate. The boy said the acts occurred late at night and into the early morning hours.
He told the court the incidents took place in Lohr’s residence, in public restrooms and at various locations at the Big Bear Lake Campgrounds in Bruceton Mills, W.Va.
Lohr is a former member of the advisory board for Greene County Children and Youth Services, that placed the boy in his care. He was suspended from the board at the September meeting of the Greene County commissioners.
Police were first notified about the alleged sexual acts Aug. 18 at the state police barracks in Waynesburg.
When confronted by family members with the allegations that same day, Lohr asked them to give him an hour before police were called and fled in a family vehicle. When he was missing for 24 hours, concerned that he may try to harm himself, Lohr’s family called 911. He was found Aug. 19 in Fayette County inside the vehicle at Ohiopyle State Park by park rangers.
A state police trooper said Lohr ran a hose from the tailpipe into the vehicle in an attempt to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. He was flown to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, where he recovered from the attempt. Several days later, he was sent to the behavioral medicine unit at Fairmont General Hospital in Fairmont, W.Va., where West Virginia authorities would eventually arrest him Aug. 29 as a pre-trial felon. He was extradited to Pennsylvania Sept. 11.”
Preliminary hearing held in rape case[Observer-Reporter 9/27/13by Tara Kinsell]
“John Robert Lohr, 57, a former Greene County Children and Youth Services Advisory Board member, faces a a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years after pleading guilty Friday to sexually assaulting a young boy in his care over a four-year period beginning in 2009.
Lohr pleaded guilty to amended felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, corruption of a minor and indecent assault of a minor under 16 years of age.
Charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with forcible compulsion and rape with forcible compulsion were withdrawn by the Commonwealth in exchange for Lohr changing his original plea from not guilty to guilty on the remaining charges.
Assistant District Attorney Brianna Vanatta said it was in the best interest of the victim to make an offer to spare him the experience of a trial.
Taking the stand to acknowledge he did not want to go to trial, Lohr said he didn’t agree with the timeline. He told the court he was pleading guilty because, “I engaged in oral sex with (the victim).”
Lohr said the boy was placed with him and his wife by Greene County CYS when he was 4 years old. According to the criminal complaint, Lohr began sexually abusing the boy when he was 9 years old.
“I agreed to drop two of the charges against you, but I would be more than happy to go to trial on all of these charges,” Vanatta said to Lohr. “There were reasons I agreed to this, not least of which is the impact on the victim who quite frankly, Mr. Lohr, has been through enough, thanks to you. You will serve not one hour less than 10 years in jail because of this. You are never, ever to have contact with the victim again.”
Lohr will be sentenced at a later date pending an assessment under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to determine if he is a sexually violent predator under the law.
Whether he is deemed sexually violent or not, Lohr will be required to register under Megan’s Law as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. If he is found to be a sexually violent predator, there is an added component requiring him to attend at least monthly counseling sessions with a provider approved by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board.
On Aug. 22 Lohr was extradited from the North Central Regional jail in Marion County, W.Va., based on a fugitive warrant.
He was confronted by family members Aug. 18 with allegations of sexually assaulting the boy. A day later, Lohr was found unconscious by park rangers at Ohiopyle State Park inside a van with a hose running from its tailpipe into the interior. Lohr was arrested Aug. 29 at the behavioral medicine unit in Fairmont General Hospital, Fairmont, W.Va.
At the end of Friday’s court appearance, Lohr was remanded back into the custody of Greene County sheriff’s deputies to be returned to the Greene County jail where he was held on $750,000 straight cash bail since Sept. 11.”
Former CYS advisory board member pleads guilty to sex charges [Observer-Reporter 2/28/14 by Tara Kinsell]
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