A music teacher at the Onondaga Indian Nation School has been falsely accused of molesting 13 female students, his defense attorney said Tuesday.
Albert Scerbo is a "solid man, a solid citizen" who has been made "a victim of scandalous, smearing accusations by a bunch of little girls who may now believe everything they are telling you," defense attorney Edward Menkin told an Onondaga County Court jury during opening arguments at Scerbo's trial.
Menkin suggested the girls, all Indians, collectively concocted the accusations against Scerbo, who is not Native American.
Scerbo, 45, of Clay, is charged with 28 criminal counts, including sexual contact with children, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse. The incidents occurred at the reservation school from Sept. 4, 2002 through Dec. 18, 2006 and involved victims between ages 7 and 14, prosecutors said.
Scerbo was originally arrested in December on charges he had sexual contact with two girls, ages 7 and 8. But the list of victims grew to 17 as deputies investigated the case. Last week, Judge William Walsh dismissed seven counts against Scerbo, dropping four victims from the case because of insufficient or contradictory evidence.
"This was a crime of opportunity," said Assistant District Attorney Gary Dawson. "He had access to these little girls for a long period of time. He had the opportunity, and he took advantage of it.
"This wasn't a stranger. This was their teacher. Someone they see everyday. Someone they respect and obey," Dawson said. "Instead, he abused their trust for his own sexual gratification."
Dawson said he planned to call all 13 young victims to testify.
The victims said that Scerbo would touch them through their clothing as they sat on his lap in the back of a darkened room while he showed movies or videos to the class.
Dawson said Scerbo never used physical force against his victims.
"He didn't have to. He was their teacher and they trusted him," Dawson said.
Scerbo taught at the Onondaga school for eight years. School officials suspended Scerbo after his arrest and the Lafayette Central School District placed him on administrative leave. The reservation school has about 90 pupils.
Scerbo is married with two children and is active in his church and community, Menkin said. About 30 relatives and friends packed the courtroom Tuesday to support Scerbo. More than a dozen Onondaga residents, including several clan mothers, sat on the opposite side of the courtroom.
"There's nothing more upsetting, more repugnant than a child molester," Menkin said. "The only thing worse is to be called a child molester when it's not true."
The trial is expected to last about a week.
Source: Tonawanda News