Charges allege man sexually abused girl over the course of 4 years

Sept. 03--The charges against a man accused of sexually abusing young girls allege that he raped one victim for about four years, until she reached fourth grade.

James Moen, 31, is charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor, stemming from the abuse of a girl that started when she was 5. A police spokesman said Moen confessed to the crime and admitted he sexually abused other girls.

Anchorage police detective Brett Sarber wrote in the complaint against Moen that the investigation started Aug. 21, when the Office of Children's Services referred a report to the police department.

Sarber interviewed the victim, now an adult, on Aug. 25. She told the detective that when Moen was in his early 20s, he abused her at three different locations. At a cabin in Big Lake, Moen forced the girl to perform sex acts, according to the complaint.

"(The woman) could not remember when the sex events began, but she knows it was happening for a while, the earliest she can remember she was (in) about first grade. (She) said there were at least 15 separate incidences of Moen touching her sexually, probably more."

Following Moen's instructions, the girl did not tell anyone what was happening, but she decided to alert a friend in the fourth grade, according to the complaint. The allegations made it back to the girl's parents; her father confronted Moen and told him not to touch his daughter again, the complaint says.

The father said he did not know the extent of the sexual abuse, Sarber wrote.

Police got the woman to call and confront Moen, who allegedly admitted to the abuse and apologized for it during a 22-minute recorded conversation, according to the complaint.

"Moen said that he may have done it all because he had been abused as a child, something he never told anyone about prior to this phone call," Sarber wrote.

The detective noted in the charging document that Moen has no criminal record. Police have asked anyone with information about other alleged sexual abuse to call the department at 907-786-8900 or report information anonymously at 907-561-7867 or online.

Court records show Moen was appointed a public defender during a Wednesday hearing at the Anchorage Correctional Complex courtroom. His initial bail was set at $100,000 cash only.

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