Child sex abuse trial for former Mount Saint Joseph High wrestling coach underway
BALTIMORE - The trial for a former Mount Saint Joseph High wrestling coach charged with sexually abusing a child began in a Baltimore County courtroom on Wednesday.
The trial for 75-year-old Neil Adleberg began Wednesday morning.
According to WJZ News media partner, Adleberg opted for a bench trial, meaning Circuit Judge Dennis M. Robinson will determine his guilt.
Adleberg was indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor and sexual solicitation of a minor that reportedly happened in 2013 and 2014.
Adleberg is also the only person indicted in the Maryland Attorney General's investigation into child sex abuse and cover-ups in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
He served as Mount Saint Joseph High School's head wrestling coach in the 1970s, then returned to be assistant wrestling coach during the 2014-15 season.
According to the Banner, Adleberg, then 65 in 2013, met a 17-year-old who was a senior and member of the wrestling team at Perry Hall High School during a tournament in Delaware.
The Banner reports that Adleberg maintained a "coach-emeritus type relationship" with the wrestling team at Mount Saint Joseph High School and was involved in promoting local and national tournaments.
Prosecutors said he held a position of "significant influence within the wrestling community."
Adleberg took an "increasingly active interest" in the teen and drove him to wrestling practices at Mount Saint Joseph High School.
According to the Banner, Adleberg took steps including encouraging the teen to change the address on his driver's license, adding him to the same cellphone plan and helping with college admissions paperwork, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Adleberg made sexual comments and casually touched the teen in "inappropriate areas."
At his home, Adleberg trapped the child in a closet in the basement and sexually assaulted him, prosecutors alleged.
The sexual abuse continued after he turned 18, the Banner reports.