| Lower Burrell Man Charged with Raping Girl
By Chuck Biedka
The Tribune-Review
June 2, 2015
http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/8485792-74/jack-girl-area#axzz3bxP8PsH3
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Daniel Jack leaves District Justice Peck-Yakopec's court room after his arraignment at the Allegheny Township building on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.
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A former youth pastor at a church in Plum is accused of forcing a teenager to have sex with him.
Daniel Allen Jack, 31, of Toledo Drive, Lower Burrell, awaits rape and seven other charges including sexual assault by an employee of a nonprofit organization.
State police allege Jack met the girl, then 16, at the Amplify Church in Plum, where Jack was serving as a youth group leader and, later, as a youth pastor.
He was fired from that position when the allegations against him came to light last month.
A church spokesman wasn't available for comment Tuesday.
Until last month, Jack was a technology employee at Kiski Area School District.
District officials and police said none of the alleged assaults happened at the school or during a school event. Superintendent John Meighan said the girl was not a student at Kiski Area.
Jack is on administrative leave without pay from the school district.
The district's school board is scheduled to hold a special hearing Wednesday night to review Jack's employment. Jack has requested that the hearing not be public, Meighan said. He said Jack could be fired at the meeting.
Jack is accused of forcing the girl to have sex with him on several occasions from March through May of this year at his home, his parents' home, in a car and a wooded area near his home.
The situation came to light May 11, according to police, when the girl's parents reported her missing and having found a suicide note from her. Police say Jack had driven the girl to a shack in a wooded area in New Kensington, where she was found and returned to her parents.
The girl “looked up to him (Jack) as a father figure, a mentor and a leader” and “kept spending time with him” because of their church association, a state trooper wrote in the court papers.
Police said Jack encouraged ties with the girl and started to spend more and more time together at church functions and fundraising for a mission trip.
By January, Jack started to text the girl and set up a Google account for them using fake names for her and him, state police allege.
Jack allegedly placed an app on her phone and showed her how to use it.
He allegedly started placing a heart at the end of each text.
In addition to the sex charges, Jack is accused of concealing the whereabouts of the girl when she was 17, corruption of minors and criminal use of a cellphone or a computer.
District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on Tuesday formally charged Jack.
Assistant District Attorney Judy Petrush asked for bond to be set for at least $75,000. She argued that the alleged assaults were violent and Jack was aggressive to the victim.
“I request a high bond to ensure he attends the (preliminary) hearing and to protect the community and the victim,” Petrush said.
She urged that Jack be required to wear a GPS-equipped ankle bracelet.
Jack's attorney, Robert Mielnicki, said Jack had a form of probation when he was 18 but that case has been removed from the record.
“He doesn't have a record,” Mielnicki argued. “If GPS is used, that negates the need for a high bond.”
“Some people cut those bracelets off,” Yakopec said.
Mielnicki said Jack has been a lifelong resident of Lower Burrell. He is unemployed, staying at his parent's home.
Yakopec set Jack's bond at 10 percent of $50,000. She ordered him to stay inside his parent's house, and go to the county pre-trial services Wednesday to be fitted with the ankle bracelet.
Jack was ordered to stay away from the victim and other youths. His two children may visit him.
Jack's preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 30.
His parents posted his bond Tuesday afternoon.
Chuck Biedka is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4711 or cbiedka@tribweb.com.
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