The Other Duke Rape Case

When you hear the phrase "Duke Rape Case" you probably think of the lacrosse team that was wrongly accused by the local D.A. and terribly smeared by members of the Duke faculty. The team members were later exonerated when the case fell apart, though to my knowledge no apology was ever issued by the faculty members who signed a letter condemning the young men.

Well, there's another Duke rape case and this one involves a member of the faculty:

Sitting in a Durham County jail cell, Frank M. Lombard, the Duke University researcher accused of offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex, awaits a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to face federal criminal charges.

After waiving an extradition hearing Friday morning, he was locked in the Durham jail Saturday without bail.

Federal authorities say Lombard, 42, of 24 Indigo Creek Trail, performed sexual acts on his son and invited an undercover investigator online to fly to North Carolina and do the same.

Lombard owns the home with another man, according to Durham County property records. The pair bought the home, which sits at the end of a narrow path lined with trees and multicolored homes, in May 2007, the records show. The co-owner has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

A bag of baseball equipment, a pair of tennis rackets, a skateboard and a child's bike lay on the home's front porch Saturday. No one answered the door as a dog barked inside.

Lombard, associate director of Duke's Center for Health Policy, was arrested Wednesday evening at his home. Investigators seized two webcams, five computers and a sex toy, among other items, after searching his home.

The 5-year-old and another child in the home were placed in protective custody.

Lombard has not faced a criminal charge but has speeding infractions and other driving offenses.

Lombard, a licensed clinical social worker with a master's degree in social work, is a health-disparities researcher who studies HIV/AIDS in the rural South.

This guy will be really popular in prison. And, of course, I'm waiting for the letter from the faculty condemning this guy.

Still waiting...