Leslie Richard Danielson

Leslie Richard Danielson, 62, is charged with the rape of a girl who was 12 at the time of the alleged offense in the summer of 1987.The victim had gone to Danielson's house for a cookout and some sailing on a nearby lake in the company of other children.The alleged victim testified that after the day's activities, as the other children were being picked up one by one by their parents, she found herself the last one in the house alone with Danielson.

Danielson's wife was away that day, according to her testimony.

After getting her to help with cleaning up the party debris, she testified, he sat down next to her, fondled her and then raped her before her father came to pick her up.

She did not tell either her father or mother, she said, "because I didn't think anyone would believe me."

Not until she underwent psychotherapy, she said, did she tell anyone about the rape when she confided to her therapist.

Last Feb. 25, Danielson was convicted of indecently fondling four children who were his Sunday school pupils and who had been invited to his house for parties when his wife was away.

On March 13, Judge Walter E. Steele sentenced Danielson to serve five to 10 years in the state prison in Walpole for those indecent assaults.
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Until his arrest in June 1989, Danielson had been a Sunday school teacher at the Union Congregational Church for more than 25 years.

Assistant District Attorney David Linsky, who also prosecuted Danielson the first time, said yesterday that there are eight more indecent assault and battery charges pending against Danielson.

The Middlesex Superior Court jury, after deliberating for more than eight hours in one session, acquitted Leslie Richard Danielson of simple assault and battery on one girl, and of indecent assault on another girl and a boy.Judge Walter E. Steele allowed Danielson to remain free on personal recognizance and scheduled sentencing for March 11 at 2 p.m.
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Danielson, 62, had been a member of the choir and taught Sunday school at the Union Congregational Church before his arrest in June 1989.He now lives in Arlington and works as a volunteer at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford.

Danielson was charged with nine counts of assault and battery or indecent assault and battery on six children.He was convicted of indecent assault and battery against four.

He was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault on a girl who testified that he had touched her buttocks as she was going up the stairs in his home, and of a similar charge involving a boy who testified that Danielson touched his leg before being discouraged by the boy's withdrawal.Danielson was also acquitted of simple assault involving a girl who testified that Danielson either lay on top of her during a game in his house or that he knelt over her.

The children testified that Danielson would have them to his house for parties on Friday nights when his wife was away and that during those parties he would fondle them.Danielson denied it, saying he may have patted the children affectionately, or embraced them to encourage them.

Danielson still faces eight charges involving six children.