NYC man accused of sexually abusing children

John Russel, a New Yorker who has been accused several times of sexually abusing underage girls was arrested last July after an underage Asian-American victim came forward and alleged that the 59 year old man had engaged in oral sex and intercourse with her and a criminal complaint charges him with two felony counts of sexual conduct against a child after he asked the victim to take pictures and record videos of him engaging with another underage girl.

Russell who had a brief career as an actor back in the 80ies and landed parts in Law & Order and a few movies had been a City College of New York researcher. He obviously lost his job however one might question why this man was ever hired to work around teenagers as his history of sexually abusing children goes back to July 1999.

At this time, Russel had moved to a house in Bethel, Vermont, with his wife and two kids.  While they were looking for a baby-sitter, Russel brought a 14 year old girl to his house so she supposedly would get familiar with the place. When she was there Russel undressed her and had sex with her. After they finished he told the girl that if she mentioned what happen between them to anyone he would deny it all and that he would never go to jail because he had children.

The girl went to the police anyway but Russel was right, he never went to jail and was not even registered as a sex offender. His plea deal included a $500 contribution to a victim’s assistance fund and community service. He was even authorized to move to NYC where he entered a treatment program paid for by his wife.

His first marriage ended in New York and he remarried and had two sons.  In 2015 he was accused again of groping  a 15 year-old Asian-American girl but the case was dropped because the family didn’t want to testify.

Now with another victim coming forward and a criminal complaint having been filed it will be hard for Russel to continue to protest that he is innocent.

Read more in the NY Daily News