Summary
Overview
This Crime Junkie episode tells the disturbing story of Roger Huber, a corrections officer and convicted sex offender in Lockport, New York, and the suspicious disappearance of his girlfriend Cheryl Rucci in 2005. The investigation begins when a high school student's journal reveals Huber's inappropriate relationship with minors. Cheryl was set to testify against Huber when she vanished the day before receiving a grand jury subpoena. Despite Huber's conviction on sex abuse charges, Cheryl has never been found, and her family believes she was silenced before she could testify. The episode explores a disturbing pattern of grooming, alleged corruption within law enforcement, and a critical witness sighting that was dismissed by investigators.
The Journal Entry That Started Everything
In January 2005, a 16-year-old special education student named Emily wrote in her journal about her friend Megan's relationship with Roger Huber, a 41-year-old corrections officer. The school administrator who discovered this information reported it up the chain, triggering an investigation into whether Huber's relationship with 17-year-old Megan began when she was underage. The investigation revealed that Huber had a disturbing pattern of preying on vulnerable young women with disabilities, using them to groom the next victim in a cycle of abuse.
- Emily, a 16-year-old special education student, was journaling about trauma when she wrote about her friend Megan's relationship with Roger, an adult law enforcement officer
- Roger Huber was a 41-year-old correctional officer at the Niagara County jail
- The age of consent in New York is 17, so investigators had to determine if the relationship started before Megan turned 17
- Roger claimed he'd known Megan for 6-7 years since she was 10 or 11, and she babysat his 8-year-old daughter
" Roger Huber to leave my students alone. "
Roger's Pattern of Grooming and Abuse
The investigation uncovered a disturbing cycle where Roger Huber systematically groomed young women with learning disabilities, starting with his girlfriend Cheryl Rucci when she was his teenage babysitter. Roger used victims to help him prey on the next, creating a web of abuse involving multiple minors. Emily revealed that Roger had exposed himself to her multiple times and played pornographic movies in front of minors, while taking them on boat trips where adults got naked in front of children.
- Cheryl Rucci, Roger's 33-year-old girlfriend, had the mental age of about 16 due to a learning disability and had been groomed by Roger since she was his teenage babysitter
- Roger played pornographic movies in front of Emily and asked her to show him her breasts
- Roger took minors on a boat where he, Cheryl, and other adults got naked in front of them, with at least one minor drinking alcohol
- Roger exposed himself to Emily at a motel on New Year's Eve when Megan left to get a drink
" it seems like Roger manipulated her into being both victim and perpetrator. "
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