Fierce allies

WILLOW GROVE, Pa. — Ron Miner stopped talking and stared at the defendant walking past him into the courtroom. He made sure the man, charged with sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl, got a look at the patches on his denim vest: Bikers Against Child Abuse.

Longtime participants of toy runs and other charity fund-raisers, some bikers now take their motorcycles to the courtroom for a more personal stand against child abuse. They say their fierce reputation lends strength to victims and their families in court.

Mr. Miner had kind words and a hug for the girl’s mother, getting ready to testify. “We’re not here to threaten anybody. We’re here to let you know that people do care,” he told her.

Mr. Miner and four other members of the Bikers Against Child Abuse of Montgomery County Inc. attended a recent preliminary hearing in district court, all wearing patch-covered denim vests over their leather jackets. They make time during the week to come to court, they say, to fill a void for families in need.

“They need a bigger shoulder to lean on than they’re getting from the public,” said chapter President Keith “Orangeman” Dungan, of North Wales.

To the girl’s mother, who didn’t know the bikers were coming, Mr. Dungan offered his cell-phone number to call if she needed food, clothing or a contact with the county’s social services.

Mr. Miner, known to fellow bikers as “Pinhead,” got on his knees to talk to the girl; she hid her eyes under a hat.

The 40-member group, part of a Pennsylvania-based organization that promotes child abuse awareness and prevention, made their first court appearance in December 2001. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office embraced their initiative.

Wendy Demchick-Alloy, chief of the office’s sex crimes unit, said the bikers are “law-abiding, civilized, very well-intentioned.”

“I’m sure there’s going to be some whining at some point, ‘They’re intimidating.’ That’s not what they’re doing. They want to help,” she said.

Last year a judge in Provo, Utah, ordered bikers attending pretrial hearings for a man charged with molesting children to leave their jackets bearing their logo outside the courtroom. The logo showed a red and white fist with “BACA” across the knuckles.

The bikers in their leather riding gear “just made it a circus every time we had court,” defense attorney Mike Esplin said, by making intimidating comments to the family of his client.

“The defendant is presumed to be innocent, and such activities detract from that presumption,” Mr. Esplin said. “They’re very emotionally charged and they may have some justification for being upset — child abuse is a serious problem — but from my standpoint that does not outweigh the right to a fair trial.”

Utah police have overcome their initial apprehension about the group’s biker image, said Val Shupe, president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, representing 136 police chiefs statewide.

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