A former police chief is now behind bars after being charged with sexually assaulting a patient at a rehabilitation center in Donegal, Pennsylvania. John E. Berger, who once headed the Ligonier Valley Police Department, was arrested on Friday and is being held at the Westmoreland County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
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The authorities arrested Berger after accusations surfaced about his assaulting a patient at DreamLife Recovery, an addiction rehab facility at which he had previously been a patient. He had been working there since he lost his job as police chief in May 2023 after a federal raid on the department.
Investigators say Berger first met the victim last year when they were both patients at DreamLife.
She told police, “Berger would make unwanted sexual advances towards her almost weekly if not daily.”
The police report states those advances resumed starting in March when the victim returned to DreamLife.
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On Monday around 11:00 pm, police paperwork states Berger went into the victim’s room while she was sleeping, woke her up by whispering her name and “forcefully started to kiss her.”
State Police say he then groped her and forced her to give him oral sex.
“I would never think a law enforcement officer would be doing that,” Beranek said.
In an interview with State Police Friday, investigators say Berger owned up to the charges.
Contact between Berger and the victim began when she returned to the clinic. It was not long before he began acting inappropriately with her.
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The accuser returned to the recovery center as a patient in March to find Berger was now working there as a behavioral health technician. He resumed with the unwanted sexual advances and bought her nicotine patches and cigarettes, according to court papers.
On Monday, he sexually assaulted her in her room, police said. Video surveillance from the center showed he was inside the room for five minutes, according to court papers.
Two days later, Berger sent the accuser a friend request on Facebook. Police said employees there are not allowed to contact patients until two years after they’ve been discharged.
Community residents and former colleagues have been grappling with the severity of the allegations against Berger. Zachary Buchholz told reporters, “There’s no excuse for it honestly but definitely being held accountable and being a police officer held to a higher standard and falling like that is pretty atrocious.”
The incident has raised critical questions about the hiring practices and oversight in the rehabilitation facility. The fact that the former police chief had worked at DreamLife Recovery after having been a patient has attracted scrutiny. An attorney for the organization noted that they are “aware of the recent allegation of sexual misconduct, and the facility is taking the matter very seriously.”
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Berger’s preliminary hearing is set for May 17. His case could motivate critical policy adjustments for the police department and the rehab facility.
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