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City man accused of sexual assault

Police:?Fagan didn’t deny girl’s claims, saying ‘I do things in my sleep’

Altoona police say a man accused of sexually assaulting a girl starting when she was 8 years old allegedly told a detective he did it in his sleep.

“If she said these things happened, then they are true,” 28-year-old Charles R. Fagan told Altoona police Detective Sgt. Terry Merritts multiple times when he was questioned Thursday night, according to the charges filed Friday.

“I am not going to call her a liar. I am 99 percent sure they probably happened,” Fagan then said, prompting the detective to ask why he was only 99 percent certain.

“I don’t know what I do in my sleep,” Fagan allegedly responded. “I do things in my sleep.”

Fagan was questioned the day after the girl, now 13 years old, came forward to report that Fagan had sexually assaulted her since the age of 8.

The girl came forward after confiding in a friend who told her to call police. She told her mother and was immediately taken to the Altoona Police Department, according to police.

During an interview at the Blair County Children’s Advocacy Center, the girl alleged that Fagan’s abuse started as attention and “cuddling” and moved to the point that he made the girl masturbate him and ultimately he started having sex with her, police note in the charges.

The girl said Fagan called it assisting him with his “man needs” and that he often gave the girl gifts and would say, “let’s have fun,” when referring to wanting a sexual encounter. The girl said Fagan told her not to tell anyone, and she said the sexual abuse made her feel “uncomfortable and disgusting.”

When Fagan was confronted with the allegations by police on Thursday, “he immediately became silent for several seconds, then began wailing, crying, twitching and shaking,” police noted in the charges. “Fagan began rubbing his face, belching repeatedly and began dry heaving, claiming he was about to vomit.”

When the detective asked Fagan if the allegations were true, he didn’t deny them and it was then he allegedly confessed. Police said Fagan started condemning what he did, made degrading comments about himself and said he “felt terrible” about “taking the victim’s virginity and ruining her life,” police pointed out.

Police said Fagan made another incriminating comment when he was taken to UPMC Altoona after he said he was suffering from anxiety. At the hospital, when UPMC police asked why Fagan was in custody and an Altoona police officer said the charges involved sexually assaulting children, Fagan allegedly corrected him and said, “It was only one girl.”

Fagan was arraigned Friday on 55 felony counts that include nine counts each of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 13 years old, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child, along with one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion.

Bail was set at $100,000 cash by Magisterial District Judge Steven Jackson, and Fagan is scheduled to appear at Central Court for a preliminary hearing on May 1.

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