February 27, 2003 -- A veteran firefighter who helped rescue New Yorkers at the World Trade Center has been accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old-girl.
Kenneth Dorsey, 41, of Elmont, L.I., was charged last night with four counts of sexual abuse and three of endangering the welfare of a child.
Similar charges against Dorsey involving a 6-year-old girl were dropped last year.
Cops said Dorsey touched the 10-year-old on three occasions in an alley near Engine 3's firehouse on West 19th Street.
The last time was during a firehouse Christmas Party on Dec. 15, a police source said.
Since the World Trade Center attacks, the child, now 11, had often brought greeting cards and cookies for the firefighters, who lost five of their colleagues, the sources said.
Investigators are also looking into an allegation that Dorsey masturbated in front of the girl's sister and the sister's friend, the sources said.
Dorsey was charged in September with sodomizing a 6-year-old girl at a party in Queens after she accidentally walked into a bathroom he was using.
Charges were dismissed because prosecutors decided they did not have enough evidence to convict. Dorsey was suspended, then reinstated with back pay.
He was suspended again last night.
A neighbor said Dorsey is divorced with two children and has lived with his girlfriend for the past five years.
"He's a hell of a guy," said the neighbor. "I don't think a man in his position would act like that."
Colleagues at his firehouse refused to comment.
Additional reporting by Ed Robinson and Aly Sujo
