New Castle cop charged with having sex with teens
Friday, August 01, 2008
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A veteran New Castle police officer has been suspended while he faces charges that he plied two teenage girls with alcohol and had sex with them at his home in January.
State police on Tuesday and Wednesday interviewed the girls separately. They are cousins who were 13 and 15 at the time they allegedly were assaulted by Patrolman Richard L. Corbin, 35.
New Castle police Chief Thomas J. Sansone acknowledged yesterday that his officer was arrested. He declined comment on the matter except to say, "While the New Castle Police Department takes these matters seriously, we must reserve comment at this time, pending the outcome of the court process."
Mr. Corbin was arrested Wednesday at his home on Moore Avenue in Union Township. He was arraigned before District Judge Jennifer L. Nicholson on two felony counts each of statutory sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault, four misdemeanor charges of corruption of minors, and two misdemeanor counts each of indecent assault and furnishing alcohol to minors.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Lawrence County Central Court.
The younger of the two girls told state police investigators Tuesday that she and her cousin were walking to a club in January when Mr. Corbin, who was driving his private vehicle, pulled over and offered them a ride.
The girl said her cousin, in the back seat, discovered a bottle of 99 Apples Schnapps. She said the officer told her cousin to drink some, but requested that they do so at his residence.
On the way there, the younger girl said Mr. Corbin fondled her as they drove. At his home, the girls drank as many as eight shots of the alcohol in about an hour.
After she used Mr. Corbin's second-floor restroom, he met her upstairs and took her to his bedroom where they had sex, according to a police affidavit.
Afterwards, she returned to the living room and told her older cousin she had sex with the officer.
Another state trooper interviewed the older girl at a facility in Farrell where abused and at-risk teens receive treatment.
She told the investigator that while her younger cousin was with Mr. Corbin, she went to use the restroom and saw the younger girl lying on the bed in her underwear.
When Mr. Corbin rejoined the two girls in the living room, he began fondling her before she went with him to his bedroom where they, too, had sex, the affidavit said.
Both girls described the layout of Mr. Corbin's residence, including televisions, computers and other items that he possessed.
Mr. Corbin has been with New Castle police since 1998. From April 2007 to February 2008 he worked as a resource officer at New Castle Junior-Senior High School, a spokeswoman for the school district said.
The spokeswoman said the district still has a contract with New Castle police for that position, but she did not know why Mr. Corbin had been replaced in February.
