Dispatcher in sex slave case suspended

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut 911 dispatcher has been suspended with pay after he and another man were charged by Vermont state police in an alleged child sex slave case.

West Haven Mayor John Picard said Monday that 39-year-old town dispatcher and local resident Frank Meyer was placed on paid leave effective March 1 pending a hearing set for Friday.

Meyer and 42-year-old Brett Bartolotta of Cavendish, Vt., were charged last week with aggravated sexual assault and slave trafficking. Both men, who are former West Haven firefighters, have pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say the two men bribed the boy with money and gifts to perform sex acts in Vermont beginning when he was 12 years old. The alleged victim, now 25, told police his relationship with the two men continued until last year.