A Denver Public Schools social worker repeatedly sexually assaulted a student – following the child from elementary to middle school – during “relaxation sessions” that included quiet music and massage, a detective testified Wednesday.
Eugene M. Summers, 48, who worked at Colfax Elementary and Lake Middle schools from 1990 to 1995, faces 27 charges, including sexual assault on a child, sex assault by a person in a position of trust and attempted sexual assault on a child.
DPS spokesman Alex Sanchez said Summers remains on the payroll until Aug. 20 but declined to say what happened to his job, citing personnel issues.
Sanchez said that massage or relaxation sessions are not sponsored by the schools.
Prosecutors dropped five charges Wednesday after Denver District Judge Aleene Ortiz- White ruled that the defense could question the victim, who is now 25, during Wednesday’s preliminary hearing. She ruled there was probable cause to continue to trial with the remaining 27 charges.
Denver police Detective Teresa Gessner testified that the victim told her and a DPS investigator that Summers sexually assaulted him on 20 separate occasions that started when he was sent to the “relaxation sessions” for acting out in school.
But Summers’ attorney, Norman Mueller, questioned the validity of the charges because Gessner testified that the victim told her and the DPS investigator about different incidents.
“This victim was interviewed by two different people and told two completely different stories,” Mueller said. “This is a 100 percent hearsay case at this point and time.”
Ortiz-White ruled that Mueller could question the victim only on the charges alleging force in some assaults, and Assistant District Attorney David Lamb quickly dropped those charges. “When I met with (the victim) this morning, he was in tears just standing in the hallway,” Lamb said in court.
Gessner said the victim came forward after he told his girlfriend about the abuse, and she insisted that he tell authorities.
“His whole life he felt like people were taking advantage of him and he doesn’t stand up for himself,” Gessner testified.
Summers first assaulted the victim, whose identity is being withheld by The Denver Post, when he was about 10 years old at Colfax during the 1992-93 school year and then at Lake during the 1995-96 school year, authorities said. Summers offered him $100 to keep going to the relaxation sessions, Gessner testified. The assaults ended when the boy argued with Summers about the abuse and jumped out of his office window to escape, she said.
Summers’ job description included conducting programs on child-abuse prevention.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-954-1244 or akane@denverpost.com.
