Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 1, 1995 TAG: 9504030061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The arrest on molestation charges was based on accounts given by two sisters now in their 20s. They told police that when they were young, a neighbor befriended them by purchasing gifts and later engaged them in sexual activities, according to a search warrant affidavit filed Friday in Roanoke County Circuit Court.
"Neither sister knew the other one was being abused," said Lt. Mike McGuire. "At some point, they developed the courage to come forward and tell their story."
Working from the sisters' account, police obtained a search warrant late Thursday for the Capito Street house of Robert Paul Dallas, 49, who police said worked in the accounting department of a large Roanoke Valley company.
Investigators confiscated diaries; assorted photographs and videos of children in sexually explicit situations; and pornographic books, magazines, catalogs and tapes. Detectives also found a .25-caliber handgun, among other items.
Dallas was charged after the search with having sexual intercourse with a child under 13, a felony; three other sexual abuse and sodomy charges, also felonies; and possessing child pornography, a misdemeanor.
Police believe that additional charges against Dallas are possible, since the first names of other girls were noted in Dallas' computer files and various girls were on videotapes and in photographs confiscated from his home.
"We feel strongly that multiple victims are involved," McGuire said.
According to the affidavit, the sisters say the sexual abuse began during the late 1970s, when they were ages 7 and 9. Dallas moved into the middle-class Roanoke County neighborhood of Palm Valley in 1976, shortly after the sisters' father moved out of their home.
Within days of Dallas moving into the neighborhood, he befriended the sisters, the affidavit says, winning their trust by giving them toys, buying them expensive dinners and taking them skating and to the movies. The sisters told police that Dallas, who lived alone, became a father figure to them.
Within weeks, Dallas started photographing and taking movies of the sisters. At first, the documented activities were not sexual in nature. Gradually, the affidavit says, he began taking movies of one of the sisters partially clothed, and he began showing both sisters sexually explicit movies.
During 1978 and 1979, Dallas showed one sister movies in which young girls she knew were partially clothed or naked, the affidavit says.
Until Thursday, when police searched Dallas' house and arrested him, the sisters had remained in contact with him. Recently, at Dallas' house, one of the sisters viewed several sexually explicit videos, including a video of two of her friends having sex when they were under 18, according to the affidavit.
A sister also told police of a computer file called "Hot Stuff," in which Dallas detailed some of his sexual activities with the girls. Attached to the affidavit was an extensive computer spread sheet that noted the first name of the girl, the type of activity, the room where the act took place and the day and date of the act. The files dated back to January 1988.
In Dallas' computer, investigators said they found an unsigned, "confidential" agreement between Dallas and one of the sisters. The agreement, also attached to the affidavit, specifically notes the type of sexual relations Dallas requested and the payment to the victim. Police believe the agreement was never acted on.
Late Friday, Dallas remained in Roanoke County Jail without bond.
by CNB