Man accused of assaulting disabled student

An Emlenton man is facing felony charges that he sexually assaulted a student with a disability in Rockland Township.

A criminal complaint filed through district judge Patrick Lowrey’s office says Robert Beck, 58, was the van driver for a 20-year-old student who required transportation to the Venango Training and Development Center due to her use of a wheelchair.

The complaint said the woman’s mother was advised by another one of her daughters about posts the woman had made on her Twitter account, which referenced her boyfriend showing her his genitalia.

The woman told her mother and a family friend that she had a boyfriend she called Bobby and they communicated a lot over the phone, the complaint said.

Two Facebook messages from Beck were found to be sent to the woman, both of which were in April, the complaint said.

One of the messages read, “Hi I really love and miss you. I want to make love to you every minute of every day. Love you,” the complaint said.

When confronted about the messages, the woman said Bobby is her bus driver, the complaint said.

Beck was interviewed by police on April 26 and, when asked about the Facebook messages, the complaint said he replied by saying, “She wanted me to do it and I didn’t want to – she kept begging me.”

He then admitted to inappropriately touching the girl and that he exposed himself to her on Phillippi Road when he was transporting her to the Venango Training and Development Center.

Beck has been charged with one felony count of aggravated indecent assault – complainant suffers from mental disability, one felony count of school – intercourse/sexual contact with a student, one misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a person with a mental disability and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure.

Beck was arraigned before Lowrey and placed in the Venango County jail after failing to post $75,000 bail.