Peter Stibal II needed to go on personal leave immediately, he told his boss at First Student, where Stibal coordinated bus rides for special-needs students. The next day, he quit coming to work.
It was mid-October 2009, when Stibal was under police scrutiny over allegations that he sexually abused several scouts under his authority in Burnsville Boy Scout Troop 650. But his boss at First Student, Jared Reid, said he didn't know of those allegations when Stibal asked for the personal leave.
On Thursday, Reid told a Dakota County jury of the unusual conduct of Stibal, who never returned work after that.
Reid asked Stibal for a written request for the leave on Oct. 14, 2009, but Stibal didn't give it. Five days later, Reid called Stibal on his cell phone to request the written request and the keys to the First Student building in Burnsville.
"He stated that his keys were in his trunk and that he was going to disappear for a while," Reid said, adding that it sounded as if Stibal were in a car.
Later, police called First Student looking for Stibal, and he suggested they check his cabin in Paynesville, Minn., Reid said. Stibal, 46, of Burnsville, was soon arrested there.
He's on trial in Dakota County District Court on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct allegedly involving one Eagle Scout when he was ages 13 to 15.
Prosecutors aren't disclosing how they'll prosecute Stibal on other felony charges he still faces -- three counts of second-degree sex abuse involving other scouts, plus six counts of possessing child pornography.
