Accused Child Rapist to Stand Trial This Summer

Accused Child Rapist to Stand Trial This Summer

By Lee Revis
Editor, Valdez Star

COURT HOUSE - A 58 year old Valdez man accused of sexually abusing his 8 year old granddaughter in Valdez last summer has asked the Valdez Court for a jury trial to fight the charges against him.

While no firm date for a trial has been set, Frank Gurske, who was arrested in February on two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor, will start proceedings in the case on June 20.

Valdez police first interviewed Gurske about the alleged incidents of rape when the Spokane Sheriff's Department in Washington state contacted them to report a young girl disclosed that on two occasions her grandfather had taken her into his bedroom and put his penis inside her "private", while other members of the family were checking the mail or at work. During a forensic interview with the alleged victim, Detective John Grandinetti also reported that the girl said that her grandfather gave her money and told her not to tell anyone about the incidents.

In an interview with the child's mother, the daughter of the alleged perpetrator, she told the Spokane detective that she did recall that her daughter had money that she'd said had come from her grandfather when the family was living with the grandparents in Valdez in the summer of 2004.

Gurske was arrested in February after interviews with Detective Dan Mott of the Valdez Police Department. In the sworn statement, Investigator Mott says he interviewed Gurske about the alleged abuse but he denied having intercourse with the girl but did admit to being naked on his bed with her on two occasions.

Gurske has been free on a $20,000 bond since February 20.