Chicago Tribune
Copyright 2007 Chicago Tribune Company
CHICAGO — A veteran of the Chicago Fire Department was ordered held without bail Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting two family members he was baby-sitting in 1998.
Stephen Panchesin, 54, of the 7600 block of West Ardmore Avenue, is accused of molesting the girls, who were 5- and 6-years-old when the incidents began, said Assistant Cook County State’s Atty. Kathleen Muldoon.
The older girl had turned 7 by the time the incidents ended, Muldoon said.
Panchesin served as a field officer, the equivalent of a battalion chief, for the Emergency Management Service’s division within the Fire Department and oversaw several ambulance companies in the downtown area, said Chicago Fire Department Spokesman Larry Langford.
Muldoon said Panchesin admitted the assaults, which allegedly occurred at his home and at the girls’ home, and claimed that he was using cocaine at the time.
The girls told a relative about the attacks in April after they heard her talking about sexual assaults, Muldoon said.
Panchesin’s public defender, Lee Carson, objected to Panchesin being held without bail, citing his client’s 33 years of service as a firefighter.