Dennis RomeroIn a horrible tale straight from the dark side of the trailer park, authorities allege that a Los Angeles man essentially kidnapped his 15-year-old niece, had sex with her several times, and provided her with “lewd material.”
One of the creepier things about the allegations against 44-year-old Charles David Berlinghoff is that the 15-year-old victim told authorities “”I love him, more than an uncle,” according to an account in the Record Searchlight newspaper.
New counts against Berlinghoff were filed in Shasta County, Calif. this week. They included:
“Thirty counts of lewd acts with a minor, 30 counts of incest and 15 counts of oral copulation,” according to the paper.
And while we're biting stuff from the Record Searchlight, there's also this:
Berlinghoff already faced charges of keeping the teen from her parents, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, 10 charges of providing lewd material to a minor and 10 charges of arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose. He'll be arraigned Dec. 29 on all 96 felonies and one misdemeanor.
Cletus Delroy Spuckler did not have sex with his neice (as far as we know).; Credit: Fox
The teen told investigators she had been having sex with her uncle since October.
She said she and her uncle had been staying in the woods, parks and shelters from Northern California to Portland. How romantic.
She disappeared Nov. 10 and was spotted by a passerby in San Francisco and reunited with her family about 10 days ago.
Berlinghof was being held in lieu of $1.6 million bail.
Don't get your banjo out just yet. Berlinghoff is innocent until proven guilty, ya hear?
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.