Man Arrested After Alleged Victim Watched Episode of Law & Order SVU
A Maryland businessman, athletic coach and PTA member was arrested this week on sickening charges related to a 12-year-old girl—charges that reportedly only came about because the alleged victim watched an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit with her mother.
According to WJLA, 53-year-old Robert Shapiro employed the girl's mother as a housekeeper and nanny. She quit the job last spring when Shapiro allegedly emailed her a photograph of her 11-year-old daughter changing in his bathroom.
It wasn't the first accusation against him—he was also arrested for photographing and molesting a 17-year-old neighbor—but those charges were later dropped, reportedly for lack of evidence. The nanny confronted his wife, who divorced him, and that was that. Until:
In December, the nanny and her daughter were watching an episode of "Law and Order" that involved sexual abuse. The nanny asked her daughter if anyone had ever inappropriately touched her, to which the girl reportedly replied, "Rob did it." Her mother contacted police to report her daughter's confession.
Detectives with the Special Victims Unit interviewed the girl, who claimed that on at least one occasion, Shapiro took her to a secluded basement bedroom. Shapiro, a part-time personal trainer, reportedly pulled out a nerve stimulator machine and placed sensors on the girl's bare chest, hips and buttocks. Shapiro is also accused of snapping digital photos of the unclothed girl claiming he, "wanted to remember where he kept the [sensor] tabs."
"And he seemed so nice," said no one.
"Everybody kind of thought he was weird, but had no idea that he would be a child predator," a neighbor told ABC. "He was a member of the [Little Bennett] Elementary School PTA, he was a member of the [Greater Clarksburg] Chamber of Commerce. He was getting involved with the Clarksburg Sports Association, so this is a man that put himself out there in positions to be around children."
