Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Thomas Hose walks past reporters outside the Allegheny County Jail. Click photo for larger image.

Thomas J. Hose left jail yesterday, stepped into his attorney's car and was chauffeured to his parents' home in McKeesport, where he will remain under house arrest until a hearing on charges that he molested a teenage runaway.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Hose's accuser, Tanya Kach, was reunited with the McKeesport convenience store owner in whom she confided her true identity and secret history last week.

Miss Kach, 24, told Joseph Sparico of JJ's Deli Mart that she was masquerading as Nikki Allen and had been held in captivity for a decade by Mr. Hose, a onetime security guard at Cornell Middle School.

Mr. Hose, 48, is charged with statutory sexual assault and three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Police said he had carried on a sexual relationship with Miss Kach since she was 14. A hairdresser named Judith Sokol, 57, has been charged as Mr. Hose's accomplice.

Police have charged that Miss Kach arranged in 1996 with Ms. Sokol to run away from home and stay at Ms. Sokol's home before joining Mr. Hose at his house.

Investigators also charge that Ms. Sokol cut and dyed Miss Kach's hair to change her appearance and allowed Mr. Hose and Miss Kach to use her house to have sex.

Ms. Sokol posted her $10,000 bond last night and was released from the Allegheny County Jail, her attorney said.

Ms. Sokol, who surrendered to police Monday, was charged with three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one count each of statutory sexual assault, which applies to a person younger than 16; indecent assault; endangering the welfare of children; and corruption of minors.

Although Mr. Hose has not been charged with imprisoning Miss Kach, investigators accused him of keeping her as a psychological captive in the home he shares with his parents and his son.

On Monday, Mr. Hose's bond was set at $10,000 straight. The bond was posted that afternoon, and the pretrial electronic monitoring that was a condition of bail was ready to go yesterday.

"I saw him this morning around 9:30, and he was very anxious to get out, as you would be," defense attorney James Ecker said upon arriving at the Allegheny County Jail. "He's looking forward to getting home with his mother and dad, who are elderly and sick."

Mr. Hose walked out of jail around 1:30 p.m., looked straight ahead and ignored reporters' questions.

A half-hour later, Mr. Ecker pulled up in his black 2006 Cadillac at 1002 Soles St., the home of Howard and Eleanor Hose. Neither attorney nor client spoke as they entered the house.

A few minutes later, Mr. Ecker emerged from the house and spoke briefly.

"He's home. He's very happy to be home," the attorney said, adding that Mr. Hose embraced his parents upon entering the house.

A woman who answered the phone at the home declined comment.

Mr. Hose's preliminary hearing is set for April 6.

"It's pretty obvious there's two sides to every story," Mr. Ecker said.

So far, Mr. Hose's side of the story has not been told, and Mr. Ecker has declined to provide any details.

Wayne Washowich, president of the McKeesport Area school board, described Mr. Hose as a popular employee.

"They liked him over there. They thought he was one of the greatest guys around. My understanding was the kids all loved him, and the teachers all liked him," Mr. Washowich said. "He was very polite. It's very confusing to understand."

Parents of students at Cornell Middle School in McKeesport said yesterday their children mentioned Mr. Hose by name to them even before his alleged role in Miss Kach's disappearance and detention became public.

The mother of an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Cornell, who asked not to be identified, said her son told her Mr. Hose made a point of showing students that he had money.

The son said Mr. Hose liked to flash a 3-inch-thick wad of bills in front of students. He occasionally bought students lunches and seemed to hover around the girls, the sixth-grader said.

"He was always tapping them" on the shoulder, the boy said. "He would just tap them and then he walked away."

The student also said sometimes the boys would be talking among themselves when Mr. Hose would suddenly appear.

"You could be talking about something and he'd come behind you and butt in," the student said. "He always used to brag about his wife and his girlfriend and his son. He would say he buys a lot of things."