Former Texas boy scout leader gets 90 days in jail for sexually assaulting a minor in Colorado Springs
Editor's Note: KRDO does not identify victims of sexual assault, but in this case, the teen boy and his father chose to speak out together about the sentencing terms.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- An El Paso County Judge accepted Anthony Fruzia’s plea deal and sentenced him to 90 days in jail and 20 years of Sex Offender Intensive Supervision Probation for molesting a minor.
Nelson Logan was sexually assaulted by Fruzia at the Antlers Hotel in December 2021. The former Boy Scout of America leader from Texas was visiting the Logan’s in Colorado Springs. Nelson said he looked up to the close family friend.
"It put me through a lot of hard spots in my life, a lot of depression, a lot of suicidal ideation, but I powered through that. So and I just hope that he doesn't hurt anyone else."
Fruzia was arrested in Denton County, Texas on February 22 and booked in the El Paso County Jail on March 14, 2022, for sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual assault of a child. In May, Fruzia pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a minor in a position of trust — a class 3 felony.
According to the plea agreement, Fruzia is sentenced to 90 days in jail, much less than the possible penalty of at least 4 years of imprisonment for a class 3 felony.
When Fruzia accepted the plea deal, the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office told 13 Investigates the jail sentence of 90 days is the maximum allowed as a condition of the 20 years to life of probation.
“We believe there’s a low likelihood that the judge would immediately sentence the defendant to an indeterminate prison term given the defendant's lack of criminal history and the single incident we were able to charge.”
"We have not been able to find any reported cases by other individuals in Texas against the defendant; have limited access to the information within the civil lawsuit; and don’t believe that the information concerning the other individuals in Texas would meet the proof requirements necessary for a 404(b)/Rojas motion.”
"We definitely understand the family’s frustration at the legal system and victim’s father’s desire to protect his son, but this is a situation where we are actively ensuring significant jail time as well as a conviction on the high count for someone who violated the victim and the victim’s father’s trust.”
4th Judicial District Attorney's Office
The prosecution defended the plea deal in court today, despite the family asking the judge to reject it. The prosecution said taking the case to trial doesn't guarantee time served, but the plea deal brings certainty. He said sex offender probation is the highest level of supervision outside of prison, and the defense said this probation is so strict it is basically "prison without walls."
According to the terms of probation, if Fruzia reoffends, he could be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Both the judge, prosecution and defense said the plea deal is fair, as it is more strict than similar cases in the 4th Judicial District. The judge said she also considered the fact that this is Fruzia's first criminal offense. She also said she had to follow Colorado statutes, which James Logan, the victim's father said need to change.
"With the laws the way they are in the state of Colorado today, guess what? We're stuck with this. I don't have to like it. I don't like it," he said.
However, this isn’t Fruzia’s first alleged victim. The 50-year-old is named in a federal lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America. According to the 2020 lawsuit, an anonymous victim accuses Fruzia of sexually assaulting him 20 to 30 times over five years, starting in 1991. The alleged abuse began when the victim was 11 years old. 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.
The Boy Scouts of America said Fruzia was “removed from Scouting in 1996 and placed in the Volunteer Screening Database, thus prohibiting his involvement in Scouting in any capacity.”
Before the judge handed down the sentence, Fruzia apologized. He said he would undo all of this if he could and he is a different man than who he was when he entered the jail.
"I want him to pay for what he did," Nelson said. "I don't care for an apology from him. I probably never will."
