NILES, Ohio (CNN) -- The brother of a U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl in Kosovo questioned the charges Monday, saying they were out of character and that his brother had never before been accused of such acts.

Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, who had been serving with the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, has been charged with murder and indecent acts with a minor.

"Not him," said Lou Ronghi in a telephone interview with CNN from his home in Niles, about 10 miles northwest of Youngstown, Ohio. "He served in Iraq with honors."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before in our family," said Lou Ronghi, one of two brothers of the accused.

"We can't believe it. Not at all."

The family has had no contact with the suspect in recent days, he said.

"Broke my heart," said Ronghi's uncle, also named Frank, in an interview Monday with CNN affiliate WJW. He described his nephew as "like an ordinary person."
"He's a good boy" and enjoys singing, the uncle said.

Last week, he said, his nephew was on a helicopter that crashed into a mountain, killing two people aboard. "He got hurt; he was in the hospital," the uncle said.

A former classmate of the sergeant also expressed surprise.
"I was shocked," said Rene Ifft, who went to high school with Frank Ronghi in Niles. "I'm hoping that it's not true. I'm hoping that he has been falsely accused."

Lou Ronghi said the family finds it hard to believe his brother could be responsible for such a crime. But if he is, he should suffer every appropriate consequence, Lou Ronghi said.

"No matter what the outcome," Lou Ronghi said, "our hearts go out to the (girl's) family."


History of the accused


Frank Ronghi, 35, is a weapons squad leader assigned to "A Company," 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said Col. Ellis Golsen, a spokesman for NATO's Kosovo peacekeeping force, KFOR.

Ronghi is a 12-year Army veteran. He had been serving with KFOR, the 50,000-member international peacekeeping force sent into Kosovo -- a province of Serbia -- following the NATO bombing campaign last year that forced Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to halt his bloody crackdown against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

The U.S. military says there's no evidence of rape or sexual assault at this point -- but those charges are more narrowly defined under U.S. military law than in the civilian system.

U.S. military offers condolences


The top U.S. military official in Kosovo sent his condolences to the victim's family Monday, one day after charges were brought against Ronghi.

"On behalf of KFOR and the U.S. military presence in Kosovo, I want to express to you our most heartfelt sympathy on the death of your daughter," read a personal letter by Brig. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. "I did not know your daughter but as a father I feel a deep sense of loss and can imagine your pain," Sanchez's letter said. "I cannot say I know how you feel but I know how I feel. ... The Department of the Army will spare no effort in bringing this matter to justice."

The incident has threatened relations between the Americans and the Kosovo civilians the peacekeepers were sent to protect.

"We don't want them here to give us security if they are going to do this," said Muharram Samakova, a neighbor of the girl's family.