Long Island cybersex mistress Beth Loschin, charged last week in the S&M torture of a troubled teen, could hold the key to keeping the girl from reliving her harrowing nightmare on the witness stand, law-enforcement officials said.
Loschin’s partner, James Warren, has been accused of kidnapping and raping the 15-year-old Massachusetts girl after meeting her on the Internet. Loschin, 46, also was charged with sexual offenses against the teenager.
But the Farmingdale mother of two could help prosecutors build such a formidable case against Warren that the girl might not have to testify, several sources said.
“In a case where you want details of crime, details from perpetrators could certainly reduce the burden on the victim in terms of having to lay the case out for the jury,” said one law-enforcement official.
Loschin reportedly is cooperating with authorities and could work out a plea bargain with prosecutors as they build cases against Warren and his cyber-pal, Michael Montez, who allegedly “borrowed” the teen for two nights of terror in his Astoria, Queens, apartment.
Loschin was released on $165,000 bond, although police say she joined Warren in the attacks on the girl and allowed her Farmingdale home to be used for the crimes.
Loschin’s release outraged many of her Farmingdale neighbors who joined a protest yesterday outside her Lockwood Avenue home.
Warren, 41, and Montez, 36, face multiple charges and are being held without bail.
If prosecutors decide to shield the victim and build their case around Loschin, the trial could feature key testimony from others who know Warren. That could include:
* Warren’s ex-wife, a 33-year-old Connecticut woman, who said their four-year marriage was a living hell, with sexual relations marked by handcuff bondage and frequent choking.
“If I said ‘no’ to sex, he would force himself on me,” the ex-wife said.
* Warren’s sister, Joanne Warren, 38, who claimed her brother molested her as a child, and that the trauma had never left her.
“I’ve suffered for what he’s done since I was 12 years old,” she said.
* Warren’s former girlfriend, Rickie Rodell, who said she broke up with him because of his obsession with “sickening kiddie porn.” Rodell claimed she caught Warren trading sexually charged messages with 16- and 17-year-old girls.
A spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon declined to comment on any aspect of the case.
Police have alleged the Massachusetts teen was abducted outside a mall in Wrentham on Aug. 3 and taken to Rhode Island, then Long Island, for nearly a week of sexual torture.
Her ordeal ended Aug. 10, when she was left unguarded and made a desperate call for help on a cellular phone she found in the house.
Her nightmare led to renewed warnings about the underside of the Internet.
“The pedophiles [who] used to hang out near the school yard hang out on the Internet now,” warned state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Indeed, online solicitations have become so widespread that groups monitoring the Internet have trouble quantifying them.
Some surveys suggest up to one-quarter of all teenage girls active online have met someone in person after first meeting them on the Internet.
FBI, state and local authorities have opened 4,500 new cases in the past year, based on crimes involving children or on sting operations, said Parry Aftab, executive director of cyberangels.org, an Internet watchdog group.
She said the only positive to be gained from the Long Island case is that parents might pay more attention to their children’s online activities.
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TANGLED IN HIS SORDID WEB
BETH LOSCHIN, 46
Beefy, divorced mother of two, met Warren four months ago through mutual preference for S&M sex. Charged with kidnapping and sodomy, released on $165,000 bond. Believed to be co-operating with authorities.
*
RICKIE RODELL, 54
City schoolteacher. Met Warren online in 1994, was his girlfriend until this March, when she caught him sending lewd chatroom messages to teens. Claims Warren is “obsessed” with sadistic and kinky sex and had assaulted her and her daughter.
*
MICHAEL MONTEZ, 35
Queens copier repairman who allegedly became involved in case after being e-mailed photos of victim. Police say Warren brought the teen to Montez’ apartment, where she was held as a sex slave. Faces multiple charges, including rape. Being held without bail.
*
JOANNE WARREN, 38
Warren’s sister alleges he sexually abused her when he was 19 and she was 12. Claims he committed other sex offenses as a juvenile and says he should be locked up for life. Also has revealed Warren’s teenage son is in a juvenile sex-offender program.
*
JAMES WARREN, 41
Unemployed computer technician who served three years in jail for molesting a 13-year-old girl. Spends most of his time chatting online. Has a liking for S&M and group sex. Being held without bail on kidnapping and sex charges.
SEVEN DAYS OF TERROR – Here’s how police say the drama unfolded:
*
AUG. 3
After several months of online chatting, 15-year-old victim meets Warren and Loschin in a mall in Wrentham, Conn. Claims she is handcuffed and molested in back seat by Warren as Loschin drives to a Rhode Island motel where she is drugged and subjected to further sex attacks.
AUG. 4
Trio moves to Loschin’s house in Farmingdale, L.I., where victim is allegedly subjected to dehumanizing acts, including having her nipples burned. Sexual details about the teen are circulated online for “interested parties” by a person with the Internet handle “problemdoc.”
AUG. 6
Rodell sees victim with Loschin outside a Mastic Beach, L.I., video store. Loschin claims, “she’s a friend.” Later, someone calling herself “sassyblonde4U” goes into chatroom, saying the girl being offered as a sex slave could be drugged and underage, and warning, “It could be your daughter.”
AUG. 7-8
Arrangements are made to take victim to Montez’ Astoria apartment, where she allegedly is forced to wear high heels, a dog collar and lingerie and is allegedly raped repeatedly by the copier repairman. She is then locked in a closet and beaten when she starts sobbing.
AUG. 9-10
Teen is blindfolded and returned to Loschin’s house. Next day the victim is left alone briefly and uses a cellphone to contact Connecticut police. Gives an address she finds on a discarded envelope. Local police are notified and swoop in to make arrests.