CLEARFIELD – The trial got underway Wednesday in Clearfield County Court for a local man who allegedly raped a woman at a Curwensville apartment.
Douglas C. Albert, 54, of Curwensville is charged by Clearfield state police with felony-rape unconscious victim, rape-forcible compulsion and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse-person unconscious.
Albert is also charged with felony, IDSI-forcible compulsion, sexual assault (two counts) and aggravated indecent assault, plus misdemeanor indecent assault-person unconscious and indecent assault without consent.
Deputy District Attorney Trudy Lumadue is prosecuting the case on behalf of the commonwealth. Albert is being represented by defense attorney Joshua Maines.
Intimacy should be respected, said Lumadue in her opening statements to jurors. “It’s a choice.”
“And, the victim—in this case—had that choice stripped from her … she didn’t even know it was occurring.”
Maines, however, asked jurors to listen “very closely” to the different accounts of the victim’s story, suggesting they would hear significant inconsistencies.
The victim testified that she was asleep at her friend’s Curwensville apartment on March 31, 2021 when she was awoken by Albert inappropriately touching her.
Then, he proceeded to rape her, she told jurors, and as this was occurring, she became so overwhelmed by fear that she was unable to say or do anything to fight back.
Neither she nor Albert spoke during the encounter, she said, and at some point, Albert just got up and left as she saw his reflection in the television screen.
She said she was familiar with Albert, knew his build, and that he was the only other person with the key to her friend’s apartment.
Following the incident, the victim called multiple friends and reported Albert had raped her. She also went next door where a neighbor had her call 911.
While waiting for arrival of state police, she said a male friend came to offer emotional support. Later he testified, describing the victim’s state of mind that night as “hysteric.”
At the scene, Trooper Matthew Borden located the victim across the street with friends. She was “clearly traumatized” and had to be calmed down so he could gather basic incident details.
She couldn’t remember many details, he testified, because she “froze up” and they were “blacked out” from her memory.
He said she was giving one- or two-word responses and he didn’t “press her,” knowing there would be a rape kit assessment and follow-up interview.
Trooper Adam Cummings interviewed Albert the night of the alleged rape. He said Albert denied that he had any sort of physical contact or communication with the victim.
Cummings said Albert did admit he was aware the victim was at her friend’s apartment alone. But he said he was at home all evening, and urged state police to have a rape kit done.
Trooper Matthew Peacock conducted a follow-up interview with the victim in April of 2021.
He said while she did give a conflicting statement to Borden, her testimony in court was “very consistent” with the account of the incident she provided him.
Brad McLaughlin of the state police’s Erie Regional Crime Laboratory testified that he prepared samples for forensic DNA analysis from the swabs contained within the rape kit.
The samples were sent to the state police’s Forensic DNA Division in Greensburg, and later a search warrant was obtained to collect a DNA sample from Albert.
Peacock requested further laboratory analysis, which determined that DNA belonging to Albert matched the Y chromosome collected in the victim’s rape kit.
Online court documents indicate that Albert’s bail is set at $50,000 monetary, which he’s posted.
The trial resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday in Courtroom No. 2 before Judge Paul Cherry, and is scheduled to last through Friday.
