DNA test aids Manchester man accused of molestation

Marlon Deloatch, a Manchester man who is an elder of an East Hartford church - and has been jailed since April based on a 10-year-old, mentally handicapped girl's allegations that he sexually molested her - wasn't the source of semen that was found in her underwear, DNA testing has shown.

After a prosecutor revealed the test results Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, Judge Thomas P. Miano substantially reduced the flooring worker's bonds in two of three court cases stemming from the girl's allegations.

Deloatch's family was making efforts Thursday to post the bonds, which now total $55,000. But state Correction Department records still listed Deloatch as an inmate this morning, indicating that he hadn't yet been released.

The prosecutor, Chris Pelosi, hasn't dropped any of the sexual-assault charges against Deloatch, 34, of 44 Bissell St. in Manchester. The prosecutor said in court that police reports indicate that the girl's allegations against Deloatch include improper touching with his hands.

The DNA test results don't directly disprove such allegations. And, under Connecticut law, certain improper touching can rise to the level of first-degree sexual assault, the most serious charge Deloatch is facing.

But defense lawyer Salvatore Bonanno called the judge's attention to a section of an affidavit by East Hartford police Investigator Samuel Kelsey Sr. that clearly indicates that the girl alleged that Deloatch had conventional sexual intercourse with her.

A major question raised by the DNA results, of course, is whose semen was found in the girl's underpants and how it got there. No information on that issue was available Thursday.

But Pelosi did say the girl's mother gave three pairs of underwear to investigators, saying the girl had worn them March 10, the last day the girl says Deloatch molested her. The mother also told investigators that the underwear hadn't been washed, the prosecutor said.

The lawyers in the case hadn't yet received a written report on the DNA testing Thursday. The information Pelosi recited in court came from a telephone conversation with a forensic investigator.

Denies guilt

Defendants in criminal cases are routinely advised to say nothing about the allegations against them, especially when the court monitor's tape recorder is running. But Deloatch couldn't contain himself in court on Thursday, blurting out at one point, "I didn't commit this crime."

Bonanno asked the judge to drop the requirement that Deloatch post a bond and release him instead on a written promise to appear in court.

The defense lawyer observed that Deloatch is married, has six children, and is an elder at his church, the New Life in Christ Holy House of Prayer on Phelps Place in East Hartford. Court records indicate that Deloatch lists his occupation as a "tile setter" for a Manchester flooring company.

But Pelosi replied that Deloatch has a record of failing to appear in court when required in other cases - and has been convicted of felonies.

The judge said the charges against Deloatch were "just too serious" for him to be released on a mere promise to appear in court. He did, however, reduce Deloatch's bonds in three cases stemming from the girl's allegations from a total of $260,000 to $55,000.

Deloatch has been arrested by East Hartford and Manchester police based on the girl's allegations that he molested her in a bathroom at the East Hartford church and the bedroom of his Manchester home.

The girl used to go to church with Deloatch's family on Wednesday and Friday evenings.

Court officials have blacked out sections of police affidavits on the cases to protect the girl's identity. But an affidavit by Manchester police Detective James C. Moore indicates that suspicions about possible sexual activity by the girl originated when she asked a worker in a program, the name of which also has been blacked out, whether the woman had ever been raped.

Question raised suspicions

The woman, whose name also has been blacked out of the affidavit, said she hadn't and asked the girl the same question, also getting a negative response. But the woman was concerned that something had happened to the girl and told her mother about the conversation.

The mother then started questioning the girl.

Kelsey's affidavit in the East Hartford case says the girl was washing her mother's back in a bath when the girl said she wanted Deloatch to stay home rather than going to church. The mother told police that she asked the girl whether Deloatch had done something to her, and the girl nodded. The mother said she asked where Deloatch had touched the girl - and the girl pointed to two intimate areas of her body.

The girl subsequently repeated those allegations, with some additional details, in interviews with investigators and at the St. Francis Children's Center in Hartford.

She said the improper touching occurred 10 times.

Deloatch denied the allegations to police.

He also took lie-detector tests. Police say he failed a lie-detector test given by Manchester police Detective Michael Morrissey.

Kelsey's affidavit in the East Hartford case quotes Enfield police Detective William A. Wesch as alleging that Deloatch "intentionally thwarted" a lie-detector test that Wesche administered to him.