Former boy scouts troop leader arrested in El Paso County in child abuse case
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- 13 Investigates has learned a former Texas Boy Scout Leader has been arrested after being accused of molesting a boy in El Paso County.
50-year old Anthony Lee Fruzia is currently booked in the Criminal Justice Center in El Paso County for two felony-level charges -- sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual assault of a child.
According to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, Anthony Lee Fruzia was arrested in Denton County, Texas on February 22 and booked in El Paso County on March 14.
“Thank god that I didn’t have a gun. Thank god I have the sense of mind to go after him legally,” James Logan, the man who reported Fruzia to authorities in January, told 13 Investigates.
Logan says the abuse occurred in December in a Colorado Springs hotel. The Colorado Springs man says he used to consider the Texas man accused of molesting a child a "close family friend."
Logan is worried the punishment in the case won't fit the crime.
“I want this information out there because (investigators) told me there is a chance he might just get probation," Logan said. "Yeah he’ll be a sex offender and all that, but he is not off the streets.”
According to a lawsuit filed in US District Court in 2020, an anonymous victim accuses Fruzia of molesting him 20 to 30 times over five years starting in 1991. The alleged abuse began when the victim was 11-years old, and Fruzia was his boy scouts' assistant troop leader.
The lawsuit, filed by the law firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLC, represents eight separate anonymous victims of alleged abuse during their time with the Boy Scouts of America. The suit claims Boy Scouts of America assisted, enabled, and was complicit in the sexual abuse of the victims.
13 Investigates reached out to the Boy Scouts America regarding Fruzia, we have yet to hear back.
Fruzia is currently being held in the El Paso County jail on a $10,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 26.
