Judge revokes bail for South Strabane man in child luring case
Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter
South Strabane resident Jan Ondra is lead to Washington County jail Friday morning following a hearing where his bail was revoked on child luring charges.
Jan Ondra is led to Washington County jail in November 2019 following a hearing where his bail was revoked on child luring charges.
After three weeks of testimony and arguments, a South Strabane man accused of child luring will remain in jail through his trial after a judge found he violated the terms of his bond.
Jan Ondra, 66, is charged with attempting to lure a 10-year-old into his van in Clarksville in June. Three children testified Ondra approached them at North Strabane Town Center Sept. 28 and offered them candy.
As part of his bail conditions, Ondra is not permitted to have contact with children.
Judge Gary Gilman found the evidence presented by the district attorney’s office to be sufficient enough to revoke Ondra’s $25,000 bond. Ondra was taken to Washington County jail following the hearing.
Herbert Terrell, Ondra’s attorney, said he will appeal Gilman’s decision.
“It’s disappointing and unexpected,” Terrell said.
On the first day of Ondra’s revocation hearing, Oct. 17, three children ages 10 and 11 testified they encountered Ondra while on a break from class at Synergy Performing Arts Academy.
The kids said they were walking to Bethel Bakery around 10:15 a.m. that day. Two of them directly identified Ondra in the courtroom as the man who approached them.
Terrell attempted to seize on discrepancies in the children’s testimonies about what exactly Ondra was wearing in his closing arguments on Friday. Two said he was wearing blue jeans, while one said he was wearing khaki shorts.
Assistant District Attorney John Paul Lewis told Gilman the children were put into an uncomfortable, unwanted situation having to be questioned by attorneys in the same room as a man who frightens them.
He was it was “inconsistent with common sense” that the children would lie about what happened.
Ondra testified he was at Hidden Treasures, which is next to the dance studio, that same morning. A manager and employee of the store testified he is a frequent customer, and Terrell presented a stack of receipts belonging to Ondra. Both said Ondra was there Sept. 28
Terrell also showed surveillance footage from Bethel Bakery, which showed the three children in the business around the time they claimed to be there.
Footage from the exterior shows Ondra’s truck apparently pulling into the plaza after the alleged encounter occurred.
During his closing arguments Friday, Lewis suggested much of the evidence presented by the defense actually strengthened the commonwealth’s argument by showing Ondra was at North Strabane Town Center the morning of Sept. 28.
Lewis said Ondra showed he understood the conditions of his bond, yet was in an area where he knew children would be anyway.
“The burden of making sure a grown man comply with his bail conditions should not fall on the children of Washington County,” Lewis said.
Lewis added the Sept. 28 incident follows the same pattern of behavior Ondra is accused of in the underlying child luring charge.
“He has the keys to the jail in his own pocket,” Lewis said.