Ex-Wayland DPW Foreman's Child-Rape Trial Begins Thursday

WOBURN, MA -- A former longtime Wayland Department of Public Works foreman is scheduled to go on trial on Thursday charged with repeatedly raping a child starting when the girl was just 5-years-old .

Donald Gladu, 61, of Framingham, is scheduled for trial in Middlesex Superior Court charged with four counts of rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a child. Gladu has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The victim told police the abuse started when she was about 5- years- old and continued until the age of 13, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. Authorities say the alleged offenses began in 1998 and reportedly stopped around 2006. The alleged victim was about 21 or 22 years old when she disclosed the alleged assaults. The Natick Police Department investigated this incident.

Before his arrest, Gladu, a 1974 graduate of Wayland High School, had been a foreman for Wayland’s DPW for more than 20 years.

In court on Thursday, prosecutor Rachel Perlman and defense attorney John Swomley reviewed motions, witnesses and evidence that will be presented at trial before Judge Peter Krupp.

During the hearing, Swomley argued that he should be allowed to question the victim about her knowledge of certain sexual terms as they pertain to her past sexual encounters, but the judge denied the motion under the Rape Shield Law noting that he could revisit the issue if it is key to impeaching the witness.

But the judge made a "strong suggestion'' to Swomely that he should provide the prosecutor with the evidence he might present so that it doesn't look like "an ambush.''

Swomley also explained he has an expert who will testify about "repressed memories,'' which Swomley argues is what prompted the allegations against Gladu. Swomley said the alleged victim indicated she tried to "block'' the alleged sexual abuse from her mind and had "limited'' recall of the alleged incidents. Swomley suggested the victim's allegations are based on repressed memories, which can be unreliable.

But Perlman countered that the victim maintains these are not repressed memories, rather the alleged assaults were "something she experience regularily throughout her life.''

The judge said the expert can testify about scientific principles and not the victim's credibility.

With the jury already chosen, opening statements and witness testimony is expected to begin Thursday morning. It is unclear if Gladu will testify.

File photo of Donald Gladu by Lisa Redmond/lisa.redmond@patch.com.