A 46-year-old Larkspur man accused of stalking and touching a 15-year-old cheerleader on the buttocks pleaded not guilty today.
Carl Ruch is expected to stand trial April 29 on sexual assault and stalking charges. Prosecutor Jason Spiers told Douglas County District Court Judge Paul King the trial would take four to five days.
Files in the case are sealed, and attorneys have not spoken publicly about the case because it involves a minor.
The cheerleader was on the same squad as Ruch’s daughter at Castle View High School. Ruch, who was an officer in the school’s booster club, began flirting with the girl, sending cards and text messages, last summer, according to testimony in a November preliminary hearing.
The girl told authorities that Ruch touched her on the buttocks when they passed on the stairs in his home in August.
When he began e-mailing the girl, a detective who was using the e-mail account responded. In those e-mails, Ruch professed his affections and offered to show her “how to make love without having sex,” lead detective Heather Mykes testified.
When Ruch arranged to meet the girl in private on Sept. 12, sheriff’s deputies were waiting and arrested him.
