Team 4: Sex Charges Against Penn State Prof, Pittsburgh Man
Criminal charges have come to light against a distinguished Penn State University professor and a retired Pittsburgh real estate agent.They're accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s. The boy is now in his 40s and is pressing charges.Team 4 investigative reporter Jim Parsons has spoken with the alleged victim and one of the suspects.
The following Team 4 investigative report first aired Feb. 2, 2005, on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m.
Dr. John T. Neisworth, Penn State professor emeritus, is a nationally recognized authority on autism and the author of several books on early childhood education.Neisworth is one of three men facing more than two dozen criminal charges of child sexual abuse in Cecil County, Md. Another of the three suspects lives in Pittsburgh.Donald Smith leads what appears to be an unassuming life in a modest home on Pittsburgh's North Side, a block away from Perry Traditional Academy. But the retired real estate agent will stand trial this spring in Maryland. The Cecil County Sheriff's Department has charged him and Neisworth with 25 counts of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s.Neisworth isn't just any professor at Penn State. He is considered one of the nation's leading experts on autism in children. Just a few months ago, he published a nationally acclaimed book called "The Autism Encyclopedia."Penn State says Neisworth is officially retired, though he still has a working phone number and e-mail at Penn State's Cedar Building. He is also teaching a Penn State distance education course on autism and was interviewed about it a few months ago on Penn State's public broadcasting station, WPSX-TV.Paul McLaughlin, 43, accuses Neisworth and Smith, along with a third man who now lives in California, of sexually abusing him back in the 1970s.McLaughlin told Team 4 the men took him to locations in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to molest him. He was 12 years old at the time. He says he recently obtained a tape-recorded admission of guilt from one of the suspects.Parsons: "Don Smith?"Smith: "Yes?"Parsons: "I'd like to talk to you about Paul McLaughlin."Smith: "No."Parsons: "About the allegations against you."Smith: "No."Parsons: "Why not?"Neisworth did not return Team 4's messages via e-mail and voice mail. We also paid a visit to his Centre County home. He did not answer the door.McLaughlin now lives in Arizona. He claims the three men abused him by taking him on outings from his boyhood home in Delaware.The third suspect in the case, Carl Goeke, of California, was McLaughlin's neighbor in the 1970s.McLaughlin sued Goeke and Neisworth two years ago in New Jersey and agreed to a cash settlement that he says was six figures.The criminal trial for Neisworth, Smith and Goeke is scheduled for April 19 in Maryland.
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Dr. John T. Neisworth, Penn State professor emeritus, is a nationally recognized authority on autism and the author of several books on early childhood education.Neisworth is one of three men facing more than two dozen criminal charges of child sexual abuse in Cecil County, Md. Another of the three suspects lives in Pittsburgh.Donald Smith leads what appears to be an unassuming life in a modest home on Pittsburgh's North Side, a block away from Perry Traditional Academy. But the retired real estate agent will stand trial this spring in Maryland. The Cecil County Sheriff's Department has charged him and Neisworth with 25 counts of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s.Neisworth isn't just any professor at Penn State. He is considered one of the nation's leading experts on autism in children. Just a few months ago, he published a nationally acclaimed book called "The Autism Encyclopedia."Penn State says Neisworth is officially retired, though he still has a working phone number and e-mail at Penn State's Cedar Building. He is also teaching a Penn State distance education course on autism and was interviewed about it a few months ago on Penn State's public broadcasting station, WPSX-TV.Paul McLaughlin, 43, accuses Neisworth and Smith, along with a third man who now lives in California, of sexually abusing him back in the 1970s.McLaughlin told Team 4 the men took him to locations in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to molest him. He was 12 years old at the time. He says he recently obtained a tape-recorded admission of guilt from one of the suspects.Parsons: "Don Smith?"Smith: "Yes?"Parsons: "I'd like to talk to you about Paul McLaughlin."Smith: "No."Parsons: "About the allegations against you."Smith: "No."Parsons: "Why not?"Neisworth did not return Team 4's messages via e-mail and voice mail. We also paid a visit to his Centre County home. He did not answer the door.McLaughlin now lives in Arizona. He claims the three men abused him by taking him on outings from his boyhood home in Delaware.The third suspect in the case, Carl Goeke, of California, was McLaughlin's neighbor in the 1970s.McLaughlin sued Goeke and Neisworth two years ago in New Jersey and agreed to a cash settlement that he says was six figures.The criminal trial for Neisworth, Smith and Goeke is scheduled for April 19 in Maryland.
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