Accused of trying to kill adopted son, man in court

This is a follow up to a story I posted last week... on the CPS Worker

SALUDA --

A former Middlesex County social worker stepped into a Virginia courtroom today for the first time since being charged with attempted murder, arson and child molestation.

Before retiring from the Middlesex Department of Social Services last August, Arthur R. Bracke, 61, spent much of his career in child-custody court hearings. This time, he was in shackles, and a heavy armored vest bulged beneath his jail-issued suit.

A judge in Middlesex General District Court appointed West Point lawyer Joseph R. Caprio to defend the former child-protective-services investigator against charges that he tried to kill an adopted son by setting fire to the house they shared.

Those Nov. 17 charges preceded a local grand jury's decision last week to indict Bracke on 10 felony sex charges involving boys younger than 13.

The charges have ignited a swirl of Internet chat-room speculation against Bracke and bitter allegations against child-protective services in the United States. Middle Peninsula Security Center superintendent David Harmon cited the acrimony in his reasoning to outfit Bracke in the bulletproof vest.

Harmon told reporters after the court session that Bracke is in the jail's medical wing, removed from the general inmate population.

State police began investigating allegations of child abuse after the fire that destroyed Bracke's rented home. Authorities allege that Bracke set the fire on Nov. 17 while his adopted 19-year-old son, Josh Bracke, slept inside. The son, who was not harmed, told police that when he ran outside the house, he saw Arthur Bracke speed away.

Later that day, Arthur Bracke was arrested by Maryland State Police after a car crash in Harford County.

He served a 34-day sentence in a Maryland jail on a conviction of driving under the influence, Maryland trooper Jason Griffin said.

Additional charges of carrying a concealed weapon and failure to remain at the scene of an accident were not pursued. Bracke also received a suspended sentence for a related firearms charge.

Bracke is scheduled for arraignment in Middlesex Circuit Court on the sex charges Wednesday morning.

Those charges stem from acts state police allege Bracke committed last summer and fall.

Bracke is well-known in Middlesex, where he ran a home for troubled boys until financial issues closed the business in 1985. He also maintained a Web site, Art Bracke's Personal Pages, recounting his life as a German immigrant to the U.S. living in foster homes. Contact Lawrence Latané III at SALUDA -- Contact Lawrence Latané III at llatane@timesdispatch.com.

Original Article -
Accused of trying to kill adopted son, man in court - News - inRich.com