Friday, August 24, 2007
A Donora woman accused of taking a 12-year-old boy to two houses of prostitution was being held in the Washington County Correctional Facility, police said Thursday.
Linda Van Pool, 36, is charged with endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors along with prostitution and related offenses, according to court documents.
Van Pool, who was arraigned on Wednesday before District Judge Mark A. Wilson, is being held in the Washington County prison on $5,000 bond, a prison clerk said.
Van Pool is accused of taking the boy to the 100 block of Fifth Street and the 700 block of McKean Avenue, both in Donora, on Nov. 2. The boy had vaginal and oral sex with at least two women at those locations, court records stated.
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Van Pool has a preliminary hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 20.
She is the second person charged so far in the case. On May 10, Kathleen Waggoner, 37 of Donora, was charged with corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.
Waggoner, who worked as a bartender, is accused of giving money to Van Pool "for the purpose of providing (the boy) with sexual gratification," court documents said.
The money Waggoner allegedly used to pay Van Pool came from Social Security payments made to the boy, court records stated.
Charges against Waggoner were held for court July 3.
In Donora, Pennsylvania a woman is being accused of hiring two prostitutes last November to have sex with her 12-year-old nephew. Police said details began to surface just this month.

The boy's mother said, "My anger is out of control." The mother's name was not released to protect the boy's identity and privacy.

However, police said the boy's 36-year-old aunt, Linda Van Pool, is being charged with soliciting prostitution, corruption of a minor, and endangering the welfare of a child.

The boy's mother reportedly is a bartender in Donora. She says Van Pool came to the bar asking for eighty dollars for the boy. The mother says she never thought the money would be used for prostitutes. She said, "I just thought he would call his grandmother and wind up spending it at Wal-Mart or wherever...I didn't know that she would take him to those type of women. I didn't think they existed in this area. I thought you had to go to Pittsburgh for that."

Van Pool reportedly took the boy to two separate locations.

Police said the 12-year-old's father had died a short time ago and that the child was "acting up", so the sex was thought to be "a way to appease the boy."

Van Pool has been placed in the Washington County Correctional Facility on $5,000 bond. The two prostitutes have not been arrested, but police expect that their arrests will come shortly.