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	Trial Opens Today for Ex-Ringwood Scout Leader Accused in Sex Assault on Boy By John Petrick Daily Record April 27, 2010 http://www.northjersey.com/news/trial_opens_today_for_ex-Ringwood_Boy_Scout_leader_accused_in_sex_assault_on_boy.html A former Boy Scout troop leader from Ringwood goes on trial today in state court on charges he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy. Gene Giordano, 58, was charged in 2005 with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, based on allegations that he fondled the boy in 1999 in the defendant's Valley Road home. The charges represented the revival of a then-six-year-old case that prosecutors dropped because, they said, the alleged victim was too young to testify in court. Additional allegations, however, in 2004 against Giordano involving other boys prompted investigators to revisit the case. Auhorities in 2005 decided to pursue charges , saying the initial alleged victim had become emotionally mature enough to make an effective witness. Giordano was in charge of the children's music programming at St. Catherine of Bologna Roman Catholic Church on Erskine Road. He also was the leader of Boy Scout Troup 96, based out of St. Catherine's. The alleged abuse occurred on a single day in January 1999, according to authorities. The boy and his mother contacted officials the following month, and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office investigated and confronted Giordano with the allegations. Prosecutors said, however, that they ultimately decided not to press charges because the 10-year-old would not have made an "effective witness." Authorities, at the time of Giordano's arrest, said the alleged victim lived in Wanaque and met Giordano during a theater production of "South Pacific" at the church. Giordano was an emergency medical services responder at the time and treated the boy after he injured his foot. He then took an interest in the boy's life, bringing him into scouting activities and taking him on overnight camping trips. The allegations were cast in a new light in 2004, prosecutors said, when the families of two young boys taking music lessons with Giordano contacted the prosecutor's office. Authorities said the boys accused him of having them sit on his lap, touching their shoulders, touching their backs, petting their heads, hugging them and kissing them on the forehead. Prosecutors said at the time that although those alleged actions were troubling, they were not criminal and no charges were pressed. Opening statements in Giordano's trial are scheduled to begin this afternoon before state Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Caposela in Paterson. If convicted, he could face as much as 10 years in prison.
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