Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

My 18 year old niece is accusing my husband of inappropriately touching her. She babysat for us one night and when we got home, I went to bed and they played Wii like they always had. Both my husband and I had some drinks that night. My niece is saying she fell asleep and he put his hands down her pants 3 times. If we say he did do this, she never told him to stop, asked him what he was doing, never said anything. She is also saying he was sitting in a computer chair doing this but the way our living room is set up, I don't see how that's possible. She went to the police and now we are dealing with this. He went for a preliminary hearing where they decided it will go forward to a trial. What are the possibile outcomes of this? His attorney is trying to use that in Pennsylvania when you are an adult, you have to act like one so if someone is doing something you don't like, you need to speak up. He also said there is no evidence...her word against his. He said in his 14 years of doing this, he has never seen such a weak case get as far as it has. I'm just very concerned with what the outcome is going to be. Is there a good chance he would be found not guilty?


Asked on 5/12/11, 7:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles A. Pascal, Jr. Law Office of Charles A. Pascal, Jr.

Its her word against his. It depends on who the jury believes. Has your attorney done these types of cases before? Has he gotten not-guilty verdicts? A lot depends on the attorney's ability to make her look less credible. What could happen depends on the specific charges filed against your husband. Without knowing that, I can't speculate on possible penalties. Feel free to email me.

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Answered on 5/13/11, 4:53 am


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