Jennygirl
04-25-2007, 05:22 PM
PITTSBURGH -- A woman who ran away as a teenager and lived with a school security guard for a decade cannot sue McKeesport and its police under a racketeering statute, though she may continue with her civil rights claims against them, a judge ruled.
Tanya Nicole Kach filed the suit in September, claiming security guard Thomas Hose assaulted her and police failed to prevent or properly investigate her disappearance.
U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster ruled Tuesday that Kach's claim that her civil rights were violated can continue. She alleges that happened because the officers weren't properly trained and didn't properly respond to citizen complaints after she disappeared in 1996. Kach contends that if police had done so they would have found her living with Hose under an assumed name just blocks from her former home.
Instead, Kach last year came forward and told a store owner she had befriended of her plight. Police were notified and charged Hose with child endangerment and sex charges stemming from their relationship.
The judge struck down a racketeering claim against the police in which Kach, now 25, alleged the officers and the city intentionally obstructed justice.
Lancaster did not rule on the merits of that claim. Instead, he ruled that Kach did not have a legal right to bring it because she did not lose either business or property, as defined under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act. That act is normally used to target corrupt businesses or organized crime.
Kach's attorney, Lawrence Fisher, had argued that she lost income. He contended Hose would not let her work while she lived with him, keeping her for much of the time in a bedroom with only a bucket for a toilet in the home he shared with his parents.
Hose, 49, is scheduled to stand trial May 14 and has pleaded not guilty to statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other charges. Hose was supposed to stand trial in February, but that was postponed when he stabbed himself in the abdomen.
Attorneys for McKeesport and its police could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Fisher said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.
Tanya Nicole Kach filed the suit in September, claiming security guard Thomas Hose assaulted her and police failed to prevent or properly investigate her disappearance.
U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster ruled Tuesday that Kach's claim that her civil rights were violated can continue. She alleges that happened because the officers weren't properly trained and didn't properly respond to citizen complaints after she disappeared in 1996. Kach contends that if police had done so they would have found her living with Hose under an assumed name just blocks from her former home.
Instead, Kach last year came forward and told a store owner she had befriended of her plight. Police were notified and charged Hose with child endangerment and sex charges stemming from their relationship.
The judge struck down a racketeering claim against the police in which Kach, now 25, alleged the officers and the city intentionally obstructed justice.
Lancaster did not rule on the merits of that claim. Instead, he ruled that Kach did not have a legal right to bring it because she did not lose either business or property, as defined under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act. That act is normally used to target corrupt businesses or organized crime.
Kach's attorney, Lawrence Fisher, had argued that she lost income. He contended Hose would not let her work while she lived with him, keeping her for much of the time in a bedroom with only a bucket for a toilet in the home he shared with his parents.
Hose, 49, is scheduled to stand trial May 14 and has pleaded not guilty to statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other charges. Hose was supposed to stand trial in February, but that was postponed when he stabbed himself in the abdomen.
Attorneys for McKeesport and its police could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Fisher said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.