Couple’s Abuse Charges Dropped

A San Bernardino County judge Tuesday dismissed dozens of molestation charges against a husband and wife, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down a California law permitting the prosecution of decades-old sexual-abuse offenses.

Charles and Patricia Wesslund were arrested late last year on suspicion of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, which allegedly occurred between 1981 and 1984.

Charles Wesslund, 64, a Los Angeles County firefighter who faced more than 60 counts in the case, still faces prosecution on three misdemeanor charges, including possession of narcotics and a weapon. He remains free on $25,000 bail while he awaits a Sept. 12 court date. His wife, who had been charged with a few counts, no longer faces prosecution.

The couple were released from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga shortly after last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned a portion of a California law that allowed the prosecution of certain sexual-offense cases even if the statute of limitations had expired, so long as district attorneys filed the charges within a year after the allegations were first reported.

In a related matter Tuesday, a trial date was set for Nov. 3 to determine whether a San Bernardino priest who was convicted of molestation under the now-overturned law will be designated a sexually violent predator. That designation would mean he would be sent to a state mental hospital following his release under the Supreme Court ruling.

Edward Ball, 64, received a three-year sentence in 2001 after he admitted he had sexually abused two brothers in the 1970s and early 1980s. Ball remains in a Rancho Cucamonga jail.

Earlier this month, the Diocese of San Bernardino and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the religious organization Ball belonged to while serving as a priest in San Bernardino, announced they will pay a $4.2-million settlement to the victims.

In 1992, Ball pleaded guilty to fondling three boys at Our Lady of Fatima Church in San Bernardino between 1990 and 1992. He served nine months in jail.

Two years ago, Ball pleaded no contest to 31 counts of child molestation for sexually abusing two altar boys at Our Lady of Assumption Church in San Bernardino.