New Sex Abuse Warrant for Glastonbury Couple Denied

No new charges will be brought against two Glastonbury men already facing trial for accusations of sexually assaulting boys they adopted after a state prosecutor rejected an arrest warrant application in court Monday.

State Prosecutor Anthony Bochiocchio said Monday in Hartford Superior Court that the arrest warrant application bringing new charges of sex abuse against Douglas Wirth and George Harasz was not adequately investigated, and rejected the application.

The new charges were brought against the couple by a new accuser in court on July 16, with the case continued until Monday to allow time to investigate the claim.

Harasz and Wirth were first arrested in November 2011, after allegations surfaced that the married couple had abused two of their nine adopted children. The boys were 5 and 15 years old at the time, according to their court affidavits.

The warrants for the couple’s arrest allege that the boys were touched inappropriately, sexually assaulted, and physically abused. Some of the alleged abuse included forced labor, beatings, being physically restrained and being forced to sleep in closets.

The men adopted nine boys through the Department of Children and Families beginning in 2000. They received two waivers from DCF to exceed the limit for adopted children in one household, first in 2006 and then in 2008.

The boys were removed from Harasz and Wirth’s home after the investigation began in February 2011.