Connecticut man charged in child sex slave case found dead

NEWFANE, Vt. – A Connecticut man has been found dead in Vermont in an apparent suicide after being charged in an alleged child sex slave case.

Vermont state police say 39-year-old Frank Meyer of West Haven, Conn., was found dead Tuesday afternoon in Newfane. An autopsy is planned Wednesday.

Meyer and 42-year-old Brett Bartolotta of Cavendish, Vt., were charged last week with aggravated sexual assault and slave trafficking.

Authorities say the men bribed a boy with money and gifts to perform sex acts at locations in Vermont over a period of several years beginning when the boy was 12 years old more than a decade ago. The alleged victim is now 25.

Meyer was suspended from his job as a 911 dispatcher in West Haven last week because of the allegations.