Police, family services ignore rape verdict

The Washington Times



December 22, 1995, Friday, Final Edition


Not-guilty dad still may lose daughters, job ;


Police, family services ignore rape verdict


BYLINE: Jim Keary; THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: Part C; METROPOLITAN TIMES; VIRGINIA NEWS; Pg. C5


LENGTH: 767 words


Although he was acquitted of criminal charges that he raped his own child, Fairfax County Police Officer Larry Neidig may still lose his job and never see either of his two daughters again.Both the county's police department, where Officer Neidig has worked for 19 years, and the Family Services Department, which has branded the officer a child molester, are ignoring the jury's verdict."It seems to be never ending," said William J. Scheme Jr., Officer Neidig's attorney. "I find it frustrating to prevail in the criminal case, then he's faced with all this."






Officer Neidig, who has been on paid administrative leave since the allegations surfaced in May, was found not guilty Sept. 21 in Fairfax County Circuit Court of a charge he raped his 11-year-old daughter. He was also acquitted on a sexual battery charge. But the Department of Family Services had already put him on a list of child abusers in June and did not remove his name when he was acquitted. Family Services had already ruled he sexually abused his daughter and is not bound by any verdict in a court, department officials say.Neither is the Police Department's internal affairs bureau, which this week notified Officer Neidig that it has concluded he sexually abused the girl. By Dec. 29, the department will tell him if he will be fired.Officials from both departments say the same rules of evidence used in criminal courts do not apply for their investigations."Family Services has no feelings for the love between the parent and the child. These children can't even see their daddy," said Officer Neidig's sister-in-law, Cathryn Bonzano, 33, of Centreville.Her sister, Marianne, was married to Officer Neidig before she died of lupus in 1992. The couple's two children, 11 and 4, now live with Mrs. Bonzano's sister, Nancy Bond, who is married to Charles Bond, a Fairfax County police lieutenant who worked for the child-abuse unit when the allegations were made but was reassigned over the summer.Officer Neidig, 40, of Fairfax, yesterday went before a Family Services hearing examiner to appeal the department's finding. The closed hearing will continue on Thursday, and the department must make a decision within 30 days from the last hearing day.Officer Neidig, who has not seen his children since May, said he could not comment on the matter until it is resolved.Susan Alexander, program manager for Family Services' crisis management department, said she also could not discuss the case, but said that even if a person accused of child abuse is acquitted in a criminal court, Family Services could continue to pursue the case to keep the person from children.Because of the Family Services' finding of child abuse, Officer Neidig has been listed on the state's Child Abuse and Neglect Information System Central Registry as a child abuser. The registry is used as a tool to screen people who work in the child care industry and other businesses that require security clearances - like law enforcement.If he is successful in his appeal, his name would be removed from the registry. Officer Neidig needs to clear his name before a hearing scheduled in March to regain custody of his daughters because it is unlikely he would succeed in that hearing with his name still on the state registry.Mrs. Bonzano, 33, of Centreville, who does not get along with her sister, Nancy Bond, said Officer Neidig's problems began on May 10 when Family Services received an anonymous complaint that he had fondled his daughter. She said the children were taken from their schools the next day and handed over to the Bonds.Even though Officer Neidig's 11-year-old daughter initially denied her father had sexual contact with her, after two months of interviews by investigators, she said her father had had sexual intercourse with her twice a week since she was 6 years old, Mrs. Bonzano said.But that would have been nearly imposssible, Mrs. Bonzano said, since her sister, Marianne, was at home most of the time until she died on Nov. 14, 1992. She said after her sister's death, she often cared for the children and never saw anything amiss."I had been around them frequently. It didn't seem like much was going on," Mrs. Bonzano said. "They loved being with their father."She also said there was medical evidence presented in Officer Neidig's defense that showed her 11-year-old niece had no signs of sexual activity and that her hymen was intact.