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Saturday, May 31, 1997

Accused truck driver has a history of sexual abuse

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA / Associated Press Writer

BAYVIEW, Texas (AP) - A truck driver accused of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old boy has a history of sexual misconduct with juveniles dating to 1983, including two convictions involving young boys.

Authorities have said they fear the man might have harmed other children - possibly along his trucking route - after finding letters, videos and photographs of hundreds of children at his South Texas residence.

One victim's mother, meanwhile, said she was appalled to learn that the man convicted of assaulting her son in 1983 might have harmed another child.

"Something needs to be done," said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This man has always been with kids."

Allen Emil Sik, 39, of Tyler, Minn., was jailed last week on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a 6-year-old boy and witness tampering, for allegedly trying to contact the child after his arrest.

He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Sik is accused of assaulting the child on May 17 at the boy's home in Bayview, 20 miles northwest of Brownsville. Sik had been living with the child's family for 10 months after meeting them at church, investigators said.

According to authorities, the boy's 13- and 15-year-old brothers saw Sik fondling the child's penis.

The older brother, however, said in an interview with The Associated Press that Sik was "tickling" his brother. His mother said she does not want Sik prosecuted.

"He didn't do anything," she said, adding that Sik helped her around the house, preparing meals for the children and doing laundry. He also bought them food and other household items, she said.

Last week, sheriff's deputies searched Sik's room at the family's mobile home and confiscated picture albums containing photographs of hundreds of children. Some were school pictures; others were family-type photographs of Sik and various children, authorities said.

Also found were videotapes, some labeled "Children Videos," and letters written to Sik from children in several different states and Japan, thanking him for toys.

In addition, a video camera, videocassette player and several more tapes were found in Sik's 18-wheeler when state troopers arrested him on May 21 some 200 miles north of Brownsville. More videotapes were found in Sik's car.

Investigators have not yet inspected the tapes, said Major Gus Reyna of the Cameron County Sheriff's Department.

Reyna said investigators are working to determine Sik's trucking route with Contract Freighters Inc., a Missouri-based trucking company with an office in Brownsville. The company refused to release any information about Sik but said its trucks haul goods to 48 states and Mexico.

Reyna said investigators suspect Sik of harming other children because of the materials they discovered, his occupation and his criminal history.

That history includes at least five charges of criminal sexual conduct with juveniles in Lyon County, Minn., during the 1980s, including two convictions, according to court records. The other charges were dismissed.

In 1983, Sik pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a 5-year-old boy in Marshall, Minn. He was sentenced to probation, which he completed on Dec. 16, 1988, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

In 1987, Sik pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual conduct with another boy in Marshall. According to a police report, the 12-year-old boy and his brothers were spending the night with Sik in 1985 when he touched the boy's penis.

Sik served nine months in jail with work release and was placed on probation until Oct. 22, 1992, according to the Department of Corrections.

In the first case, as in the second, the boy was spending the night with Sik when the abuse occurred, according to his mother, who contacted The Associated Press after reading about Sik's latest arrest.

The woman said Sik lived next door to the family at a mobile home park. He was a family friend, she said, a man her kids knew simply as "Al."

"The kids frequently went over there," she said. "They trusted him."

On the night her son was abused, the woman said Sik offered to let the boy and his brother spend the night. She agreed.

"That morning they came back home and my son said, 'We have a secret.' It was just mother's intuition - you don't have secrets from mom," she said.

The woman described Sik as soft-spoken and laid-back. And, she said, he was always surrounded by children.

"At church, he would have kids sitting on his lap. He would take kids camping," she said. "Any place there were kids, Al was there."

The family involved in the Texas case said they also considered Sik a friend - and still do. The 15-year-old boy said Sik often would take him and his brothers to the beach.

"He always was just very nice," he said.

Even though the boy's mother said she doesn't want Sik prosecuted, authorities are going forward with the investigation, Reyna said. Two other families already have contacted authorities with concerns about Sik, he said.

Authorities also are working with Mexican police to determine whether Sik came in contact with children across the border, Reyna said. The alleged victim's family said Sik often spent the night in Reynosa and Matamoros. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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