One of two Fayette County doctors, identified in The Tribune-Review's Sunday edition as being the two John Does whose names were shielded for more than a year in the Suzanne Teslovich prostitution case, has spoken out to defend his actions and exonerate his partner.
Dr. Charles Robert Calabrese Jr., alleged by The Tribune-Review to be John Doe No. 1, told the Uniontown Herald-Standard in an interview published yesterday that his partner, Dr. Frederick William Ruthardt, who was identified by the T-R as John Doe No. 2, had nothing to do with calls made to Teslovich's First Class Entertainment Service.
Teslovich, a former Fayette County commissioner, was convicted last week of running a prostitution business from August 1999 until her arrest in March 2000 under the guise of First Class Entertainment Service.
When Teslovich was first arrested, Fayette County Judge Gerald R. Solomon ruled that two names on Teslovich's phone logs and other documents related to the case should be blacked out and those people would be referred to only as John Doe No. 1 and No. 2.
More than 100 other names on those documents were not affected by Solomon's ruling and were revealed.
During that same interview, the Herald-Standard quoted Calabrese as saying, "When all this (came out) in a preliminary hearing, there were some incorrect statements made" by one of Teslovich's employees.
That employee, Sabina M. Park, testified during a preliminary hearing June 23, 2000, before Uniontown District Justice Lawrence Blair that a physician she identified only as "Dr. Chuck" used cocaine during a late-night encounter with her at his office and wanted her to watch him perform a sex act.
Calabrese, in his interview with the Herald-Standard, said his only reason for calling First Class Entertainment was to hire an exotic dancer for a friend's 40th birthday party.
Calabrese told the Herald-Standard that his calls - some of which were made from his partner Ruthardt's phone - resulted in Ruthardt's name being on the Teslovich phone log.
"He had no idea what was going on," Calabrese told the Herald-Standard.
As for Park's testimony at the preliminary hearing, Calabrese told the Herald-Standard, "I don't know if she had things confused with our meeting and another meeting, but that's what prompted me to ask that my named be removed."
Calabrese said he was not claiming privilege in asking that his name be blacked out, but only wanted to protect his family.
Drs. Calabrese and Ruthardt are partners in Southwestern Gastrointestinal Specialists, located at 300 Spring Creek Lane in South Union Township.
Attempts to reach Dr. Calabrese yesterday were unsuccessful. A woman answering the phone at the Calabrese home identified herself as the doctor's wife and said he was attending the Pittsburgh Steelers football game.
There was no home phone number listed for Dr. Ruthardt.
