CLEARFIELD – Three men facing charges for various sexual offenses were in Tuesday’s session of motions court, asking for their bail to be reduced.
Brandon James Spencer, 27, of Mahaffey is charged with felony counts of rape-unconscious victim, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse-person unconscious and sexual assault in one case and misdemeanor indecent assault in a second case.
These charges stem from incidents in Lawrence Township on June 11 when he allegedly touched the victim inappropriately and then sexually assaulted her.
Spencer’s bail is set at a combined $110,000, said his attorney Ryan Dobo.
Dobo asked Judge Paul Cherry to lower the amount to something Spencer might be able to afford and suggested he be put on supervised bail.
First Assistant District Attorney Leanne Nedza noted that due to the nature and seriousness of the charges, she was opposed to any reduction in bail.
She commented that Spencer had only been out of state prison for a week when this new crime was committed.
Cherry denied Spencer’s motion to reduce his bail.
Nedza made a motion to combine the two cases, which involve the same victim, to have only one trial for both. Cherry granted this motion.
Reed Eugene Meeker, 39, of Osceola Mills is charged with one felony count of criminal solicitation-child pornography.
Police say they were contacted in July by members of a child predator exploitation organization who had been texting with him. He believed they were young girls.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, they provided investigators with multiple text conversations, during which Meeker described sexual acts he wanted to perform on the girls and asked for photos of the two doing sexual things to each other.
During the chat, Meeker’s face and private area were reportedly visible.
At one point, he said that when they meet, he wanted the girls to wear dresses with no underwear and explicitly described what he wanted to do to them.
Throughout the texts, Meeker repeatedly requested photos of the girls performing sexual acts, according to the report.
Meeker was identified by his Pennsylvania Megan’s Law registration photograph.
In an interview with investigators, Meeker reportedly admitted to soliciting photographs from whom, he believed were two females under the age of 12.
He is being held in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Meeker’s attorney Karen Muir asked Cherry to lower his bail because he doesn’t have the ability to post that amount. She suggested his bail be unsecured but supervised.
She explained he is needed because he is the caregiver for his father-in-law.
She mentioned that his bail restrictions could prohibit him from using any computers, tablets, phones etc.
Muir also commented that the charges came about because individuals target men on the Megan’s Law list and encourage them to violate their parole.
Online court records show that Meeker pleaded guilty to sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, two counts of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors in Centre County in 2005.
It was at that time he was determined to be a sexually-violent predator.
Nedza stated she was opposed to any bail reduction due to the seriousness of the charges, saying that no amount of supervision will “protect the public if he has access to technology” since he likes to solicit photos from teenagers.
Cherry stated he would take this bail reduction request under advisement, making a decision at a later time.
Victor Ren Taylor, 41, of Morrisdale is charged with four counts of misdemeanor indecent assault, along with a summary offense of harassment in connection to an incident on Aug. 24 in Morris Township.
According to his affidavit, the victim was leaving a residence on Church Street when Taylor approached her vehicle’s driver side window. He crossed his arms and rested them on the frame of her vehicle.
He then asked “may I?” before reaching into the vehicle to grab her chest. She was able to push him away, saying “no!” but he tried three more times. She was unable to block one of his attempts and he grabbed her left breast over the top of her shirt.
His close proximity to the vehicle made it difficult for her to drive away, but after she told him she was going to mace him, he retreated from the window and she left.
On Tuesday, Taylor’s attorney, Daniel Nelson, said Taylor can’t afford his $50,000, monetary bail or any monetary bail. He noted that Taylor has mental health issues but is getting treatment at the jail.
Cherry said if Taylor has mental problems, he may need a psychiatric evaluation.
Nedza stated that if the jail thinks it is necessary, he could be sent for an evaluation, but she wanted his bail to stay the same.
She noted that Taylor has another conviction in Blair County.
Online court documents show that he was declared a sexually-violent predator in October of 2015 for another case of indecent assault in Blair County.
Cherry dismissed Taylor’s modification of bail request.
