Man accused of sexually abusing young girls

By Kristina Nelson and KVAL News Published: Nov 2, 2012 at 11:40 AM PDT Last Updated: Nov 2, 2012 at 5:12 PM PDT

EUGENE, Ore. - Police arrested a University of Oregon employee on campus Thursday on charges accusing him of sexually abusing at least 3 girls between the ages of 6 and 12.

None of the alleged crimes involved the university in any way, police said.

But the UO Police Department assisted Eugene Police in taking Russell Gene Crummett, 49, into custody on campus.

Crummett faces multiple counts of first degree sex abuse, first degree sodomy and first degree unlawful sexual penetration.

Police said the victims were not family members but were acquainted with Crummett.

KVAL's Kristina Nelson went to the apartment complex where Crummett lived to ask what they thought about the arrest. Neighbors said that he seemed like a nice guy, but they weren't necessarily surprised to learn that he was taken into custody.

Wendie Rainbow said that her son often played with Crummett's children at their apartment when they first moved to the neighborhood.

"I had a feeling this was going to happen," Rainbow said. "My son witnessed him in bed with a little girl."

Wendie Rainbow added that she regrets not acting on what her son had told her happened while he was playing with his friends at Crummett's apartment.

The suspect, a building manager with the UO's College of Education, has been placed on administrative leave, the University said.

The UO said that Crummett had access to College of Education facilities, however his position did not include interaction with children.

 

University spokesperson Phil Weiler said that, while the school does background checks on people hired for these positions, Crummett's record was never checked.

"When this gentlemen was hired  we had not operationalized those background checks so there was not a check done of him." Weiler said.

 

Patty Perlow at the Lane County District Attorney's Office told KVAL that Crummett has prior misdemeanor convictions, but nothing sexual that the DA's office knows about.

Officials said that Crummett was arraigned on 7 counts of sex abuse, 6 counts of sodomy and 4 counts of unlawful sexual penetration. Crummett has a court date scheduled for December 10th. 

Investigators ask anyone with relevant information in this case to call Eugene Police Violent Crimes Detective Ralph Burks at (541) 682-5166.

This is a developing story, updates can be found on this website or its television affiliate when they become available.