A former Boy Scout leader and Olmstead Falls auxiliary police officer has been charged with raping a 15-year-old boy — at least ten times.
On Monday, Olmstead Falls police arrested 28-year-old Aaron Robertson. On Tuesday, a judge ordered Robertson be held without bond. His arraignment continued on Wednesday, since he did not have an attorney in court, Cleveland 19 news reported.
Police Chief William Traine said the victim is a 15-year-old boy, and investigators believe there were at least 10 incidents involved in the rape charge. Police would not say whether the boy was part of the Boy Scout troop where Robertson volunteered.
“You enroll your son into Boy Scouts to teach the better things in life, the qualities of life,” Traine said in a news conference. “You feel like it’s secure, that it’s beneficial. When something like this happens, it’s devastating, not just to the boy scouts, but to other children, and future children who want to go into the Boy Scouts,” Traine said in a news conference. Chillingly, he added, “There is a possibility that there are more victims.”
Police learned about the rape accusations after someone called Cuyahoga County’s Child Protective Services hotline 696-KIDS, Traine said.
Robertson seemed a very upstanding member of the community — his neighbors were particularly surprised by the news. He had volunteered (as an unpaid, unarmed auxiliary officer) with the Olmsted Falls Police Department for five years, but Traine stripped him of his title after the arrest Monday.
Marc Ryan, CEO of the Boy Scouts of Cleveland, announced that Robertson had been removed from participation in any scouting program. “The behavior included in these allegations is abhorrent and counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands,” Ryan declared.
Prior to the rape charges, Robertson didn’t have a criminal record, according to police. If he pleads guilty or is found guilty, he faces 10 years in jail and a $20,000 fine.
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