Latrobe man faces child luring charges
A 57-year-old Latrobe man denies he attempted to lure two boys into a car, according to a statement read during a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
He claims he just showed them a pornographic image, according to the statement taken by Detective Donald Gmitter.
Johnny Demitropoulos will face charges in court. The two alleged victims, ages 12 and 14, testified against him at the hearing before Magisterial District Judge Michael Metros.
The boys were sequestered on request of public defender Mary Campbell Spegar so that their stories could not be affected by one another. Their testimonies agreed.
Both boys said they ran into the Family Dollar Store on Morgantown Street ahead of their mother, aunt and sister and headed into the toy aisle. There, they were approached by a man later identified as Demitropoulos.
The younger brother said the man showed him a pornographic image on his cellphone. The older brother said he asked the man to see what it was, and he cleared his screen. The boys said they headed to the snack aisle, where Demitropoulos allegedly followed them.
He allegedly asked the younger boy to come to the back of the store with him, and then to his car. The older brother testified he heard the man ask.
“We just took off running out of the store,” the 12-year-old testified. “We went straight to the truck and shut the doors and got underneath the seat because we was scared.”
The boys’ mother, Mary Lancaster, testified this all took place in about one minute before she got into the store. She said once her boys ran into the car and hid, they pointed out a man who she saw get into a cream-colored car. She got the license number and vehicle description, and went into a store. A worker also collected the number and description, which was given to police.
Gmitter said the plate number matched Demitropoulos. He came into the station for an interview and made a statement that he showed one boy an image from the “sexually oriented” file on his phone. He said when the boys appeared scared and ran away, he was alarmed and decided to leave. According to the statement, he said he does not remember saying anything to the boys besides, “Look at this,” referring to the image on his phone.
Demitropoulos is charged with two counts of luring a child into a motor vehicle, displaying sexual material to a minor, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors.
He is in Fayette County Prison on a $250,000 bond.