By Stephen Janis
Thirty years after pleading guilty to molesting two young Baltimore girls, a West Virginia man now accused of sexually assaulting his two adoptive daughters was placed on the West Virginia Sex Offender Registry.
West Virginia authorities put George Ogle, 66, on the registry on Oct. 29 — exactly 30 years after he pleaded guilty to third-degree rape of two minors in Baltimore.
Currently Ogle is awaiting trial on the charges of sexually abusing two girls he adopted in West Virginia.
Ogle’s previous charges in Baltimore came to light after an investigative report by Fox 45 News and Investigative Voice. recounted Ogle's admission that he he abused two young female relatives.
In 1979, he pleaded guilty to several counts of rape and sexual abuse of two minors.
But after relocating to West Virginia in the mid-80s, Ogle legally adopted two young girls whom he now is charged with raping.
In June a Monroe County grand jury in West Virginia charged Ogle with sexually abusing two girls under the age of 12. The charges alleged that Ogle had improper sexual contact with the girls from 1993 to 2006, a first-degree sex offense punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Baltimore resident Tina Morton, whom Ogle sexually abused for several years starting when she was only 2, said she was relieved West Virginia finally acknowledged her uncle's crimes.
"It makes me happy to see that he's finally on there. It took long enough; it should have been done a long time ago," she said in an interview this week.
In 1979, Ogle pleaded guilty to raping and sexually abusing Morton and another relative after Morton told a baby sitter about the abuse. A Baltimore judge gave Ogle a five-year suspended sentence along with three years’ probation.
Ogle's first set of charges came before Congress authorized in 1996 the National Sex Offender Registry, a database assembled by the FBI that includes all people convicted of sexual crimes in the United States. The laws also require sex offenders to notify local law enforcement within 10 days of relocating to another state.
Still, West Virginia authorities could not explain why Ogle’s record was not picked up by background checks required for anyone seeking to adopt children.
"I thank you guys for bringing this out and letting people know what's going on because you guys are the only ones that have really stuck with this,” Morton said.
READ INVESTIGATIVE VOICE COVERAGE OF OGLE
