Violet Perano, 14, testifies that on August 5, 1909, she went with a friend, Lena Skenelli, to 80 Catharine Street, to a shoe repair shop, to retrieve her brother's shoes. The cobbler, Francesco Purpura, retrieved the shoes but demanded that she have sex with him before he returns the shoes. The witness states that she went with Purpura to the rear of the store where he penetrated her. Lena Skenelli testifies that she had accompanied the complainant to the store and had heard the defendant demand sex. A partition, consisting of wooden boards and a green curtain, separated the front and rear halves of the store but Skenelli had peeped past the curtain, witnessing Purpura lying on top of her companion. Vincent Pizarro, an officer of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, testifies that he took Violet Perano into care on April 13, 1910 and arrested the defendant two days later. Ralph Miceli, a police officer, states that he took the defendant to police headquarters after the arrest. He testifies that the defendant claimed in conversation that Perano was a prostitute, saying that everyone is having sex with her. Francesco Purpura, speaking in Italian through an interpreter, denies that he had ever seen either girl in his shop and denies the remarks attributed to him by other witnesses. The jury renders a verdict of guilty of rape in the second degree. There is no record of sentencing.

John Dobias, a factory worker, is indicted for abduction, second-degree assault, and second-degree rape. Mary Krulisch, 14 years old, testifies that, after her mother’s death in 1905, she, Mary, and her brother, Johnnie, were sent to St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum. They remained in the orphanage until 1908 when they went to live with their aunt and her husband, John Dobias. After their aunt died in 1910, the two children, according to Mary Krulisch’s testimony, slept in the same bed with the older man and, on December 25, 1910, Dobias raped her. Johnnie Krulisch, 12, testifies that he slept in the same bed with his sister and the defendant. Barbara Ruzicka testifies that Dobias had told her that he had raped the girl. William Travis Gibb, a physician, testifies that he had examined Mary Krulisch and had found evidence of penetration. The judge, Thomas O’Sullivan, directs the jury to acquit the defendant because the assistant district attorney had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the witness, Mary Krulisch, is fourteen years old. The jury finds the defendant not guilty.

Harry Newman, 16, is indicted for the first-degree rape of Beatrice Jane Hunter, six years old. The girl’s mother, Edna Hunter, testifies that she caught Newman, his genitals exposed, crouching over her daughter in an apartment hallway. William Travers Gibb, a physician for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, testifies that his examination of the girl revealed evidence of recent penetration. Other witnesses describe hearing the girl’s screams at the time. The jury finds the defendant guilty of rape in the first degree.