Former Somerset County 911 director arrested on child molestation charges
SOMERSET, Pa. (KDKA) -- The former Somerset County 911 director was arrested on child molestation charges, the district attorney announced on Friday.
Brad Lavan is accused of sexual offenses against five children, ranging in age from 3 to 6 years old.
"It is alleged that Mr. Lavan groomed these very young children and forced them into performing various sex acts on him while they were in his home," Acting Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar said at a news conference.
His arrest comes after a months-long investigation. Police said Lavan had access to children throughout the Somerset community and warned there could be more victims.
"Mr. Lavan had previous places of employment before he was with 911 and became the director of 911 as well as being a fairly familiar face in the community as a whole. So we are certainly leaving open the possibility that there could be other reports coming in, and we're preparing ourselves to deal with those as they come in valuing the legitimacy of any information that we receive," said Somerset Borough Police Chief Randy Cox.
According to police, one of the five victims reported the assaults happened at Lavan's home, where they'd go for play dates or sleepovers with Lavan's kids. That's where police said Lavan groomed the children and then forced them to perform sexual acts on him.
"Children of this age are especially vulnerable. As they're learning to trust the individuals tasked for caring for them, prosecuting these types of offenses and protecting our most precious but vulnerable members of society are of the utmost importance to my office," Metzgar said.
Police said Lavan's time as the 911 director ended in March and this case and his work with the county aren't connected.
"He was employed in that capacity at the time these defects are alleged to have occurred, but it really has no connection with the county other than devices that may have been used. And that's something we can't comment on at this point," Cox said.
In a statement, Somerset County commissioners said they have no comment.
"Mr. Lavan is a former County employee and was not employed by Somerset County at the time of his arrest. We do not have any information about the pending criminal proceedings," the statement read.
Police are now asking anyone with information on illegal behavior by Lavan to come forward.
Lavan faces a slew of charges including rape, incest, sexual assault, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. He's being held in the Somerset County Jail on a $750,000 cash bond.
