Bond reduction denied in ‘lost’ sex assault case

BRIDGEPORT — After getting a complaint that Brian McAllister, a local man with a history of of crimes involving children, had repeatedly raped a young girl, police waited five years before seeking an arrest warrant.

On Wednesday, McAllister’s lawyer argued his client should get a reduced bond because of the delay.

Bridgeport police admit that mistakes were made with the Police Department’s Youth Bureau, disbanded in 2018, but have been hard pressed to explain them. In a number of cases, files were simply stuck in draws and forgotten, according to police sources.

“Detectives and supervisors of the Special Victims Unit uncovered several cases dating back to 2013 that were a part of the original Youth Bureau files,” Police Department spokesman Scott Appleby previously said. “These cases were reviewed, and when necessary re-investigated, and evidence was sent to the state laboratory when appropriate. If probable cause existed to charge, a warrant was applied for.”

McAllister’s case was one of the “lost” cases.

In November 2015, the state Department of Children and Families received a complaint by a school counselor of a sex assault of a child and forwarded the complaint to the Police Department’s Youth Bureau. In December 2015, a forensic interview was done with the girl at The Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport.

The girl disclosed during that interview that she had been sexually assaulted by Brian McAllister about two to three times a month between 2012 and 2013, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Police did not present an application for an arrest warrant for McAllister until Jan. 20, 2020. The now 41-year-old Bridgeport man was charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child, risk of injury to a child and fourth-degree sexual assault.

McAllister’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Jared Millbrandt, argued Wednesday that there can be no justification for the delay between the time the girl made her complaint and the request by police for a warrant. He urged Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander to significantly reduce his client’s $500,000 bond.

But Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. objected, pointing out that McAllister has convictions in 1999 and 2009 for risk of injury to children. He did not comment on the delay in the case.

Alexander said given the defendant’s history and seriousness of the allegation in this case, she was denying the bond reduction request.

Millbrandt declined comment after the hearing.