Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But a Circuit Court judge didn't buy that argument: Judge G.O. Clemens said he feared the man could be a danger to children, and he denied a defense request to let him out on bail until trial.
Robert Paul Dallas, 49, has been held without bail since he was charged in March with possessing child pornography and with four sex abuse charges. Those four charges involve a woman who says Dallas began abusing her in the 1970s, when she was 7. Prosecutors say they plan to seek more charges involving other victims.
During a bond hearing Tuesday, his attorney, Charlie Phillips, criticized prosecutors for fighting to keep Dallas locked up until his trial. Phillips said the charges against Dallas involve incidents that are alleged to have happened "13, 17, 18 years ago," and there is no evidence that he is currently a threat to anyone.
Phillips said prosecutors have not fought so hard to deny bail to other people accused of sex crimes, or even people charged with murder.
"Imagination is running away with everybody, spurred on by the inconsistent position taken by the commonwealth," Phillips said.
Phillips said Dallas' neighbors and his former supervisors and co-workers at Norfolk Southern Corp. don't see him as a dangerous man, and he had never before been charged with a crime.
He said Dallas was "being crucified without being permitted to defend himself" because prosecutors are trying to keep him in jail using allegations that have yet to be ruled on by a judge or jury.
But Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Susan Cohen said there was ample reason to keep Dallas behind bars. She said the charges against him are so serious he might run away, and that he's "a very charismatic man" who is still a threat to children.
"Pedophiles don't get better overnight on their own," she said.
Investigators searched his home on Capito Road in Roanoke County and seized homemade videos of children in sexually explicit situations. They also seized computer files - including one called "Hot Stuff" - that they contend include the names of his victims.
Cohen said prosecutors plan to add to the charges against Dallas by seeking indictments from a grand jury. She said the exact number has yet to be decided because of the difficulty of pinpointing exactly when alleged molestations happened, and because research must be conducted to determine what the law was at the time. But she said the number will total "double digits, definitely" and could involve dozens of new charges.
Clemens said the evidence indicates Dallas has continued to have "unexplained associations with young people" and "an unnatural interest in young children." That's reason enough, the judge said, to deny Dallas bond until his trial.
Phillips said he will appeal the bond decision. A trial date has not been set.
by CNB