CYS board member arraigned on child rape charges
CARMICHAELS – A member of the Greene County Children and Youth Services advisory board who is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a young boy on a regular basis over a four-year-period was arraigned Wednesday.
John Robert Lohr, 56, of Carmichaels was lodged in Greene County Prison in lieu of $750,000 bond, set by Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson. Lohr, who also acted as a foster parent for the child protection agency, was charged with rape, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and indecent assault last month.
State police allege the assaults occurred from around Halloween 2009 through Aug. 14, when the alleged victim told Lohr’s wife what was occurring when the family was on vacation in Maine.
When Lohr’s wife confronted him, police allege, Lohr admitted to the sexual abuse, and asked her to give him an hour before she called police. Authorities allege that Lohn fled to West Virginia.
He was picked up there, and had been held in the North Central Regional Jail in Fairmont, W.Va. A judge in Marion County in West Virginia held an extradition hearing Monday, and Lohr was ultimately sent back to Greene County to face the charges.
The alleged victim, who is not being identified due to the nature of the charges, told Lohr’s wife that the abuse occurred on dozens of occasions at difference places, police said.
The child told police that at least two times a week Lohr would initiate sexual contact with him, normally between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.
The boy told police that Lohr would wait until others at his home were asleep and then perform sexual acts with the child, police said.
The child told police that when the last assault occurred, he had tied blankets around him in an attempt to dissuade Lohr.
Police alleged that Lohr threatened the boy with a knife, or said he would kill the boy’s siblings if he reported the abuse.
Watson scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Sept. 17.