CLEARFIELD – The re-trial of the case against a DuBois man accused of sexually abusing a young girl over an extended period of time got under way Thursday in Clearfield County Court.
Sean D. Lechiara, 40, is on trial for numerous counts of rape of child, rape-forcible compulsion, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, IDSI-person less than 16 years, aggravated indecent assault of a child, aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, indecent assault and related offenses.
In April, the court declared a mistrial after the first trial because that jury was deadlocked on all 134 counts after nearly two-and-a-half hours of deliberations, and declined additional deliberation time when it was offered by Judge Paul E. Cherry.
Deputy District Attorney Tami L. Fees is prosecuting the case on behalf of the commonwealth. Lechiara is represented by defense attorney Joseph D. Ryan of Reynoldsville.
According to trial testimony, on May 9, 2023, the girl text-messaged Clearfield County 911 asking to have DuBois City police help her, which resulted in the opening of the child sexual abuse investigation.
She told jurors that while she couldn’t recall exact dates or time frames, she had been abused by Lechiara for approximately a year-and-a-half to two years at a DuBois home.
She said the assaults began with inappropriate contact when she was about 11 years old and with time progressed to inappropriate touching and intercourse when she was 12- to 13-years-old.
Lechiara also allegedly made her perform sex acts on him.
She didn’t believe she could tell Lechiara no because he was an adult and she was just a child, the girl said.
Ultimately this led her to write a series of handwritten notes to her mother in which she disclosed the assaults, as well as her fear that she (her mother) wouldn’t believe her and may even blame her.
She left the notes with her make-up bin in her room, knowing her mother would find them when she came in to clean.
She said during the time frame of the abuse, Lechiara let her try his vape and alcohol, and also bought her gifts like nails and hair dye.
At the close of her testimony to Fees, she said she believed the abuse occurred from 2021 – 2023 but indicated she couldn’t recall every incident and every detail, or exact times or seasons.
“I don’t want it in my head,” the girl testified. “I just want to bury it.”
Jo Ellen Bowman, an expert in child sexual assault behaviors and responses, testified to the various dynamics that affect a child’s disclosure of abuse and responding behaviors while noting that every case is unique and dependent upon the child’s age and development, past trauma and so forth.
She said child sexual assault victims typically struggle with disclosure of abuse, as it’s a very emotional and traumatic experience for them, and it’s not uncommon for them to not recall exact dates or time frames, unless they can associate it with a holiday or another special occasion.
She said in cases of ongoing chronic abuse, children might recall the first/last occurrence of abuse and possibly a few other occurrences in between if they’re triggered by another memory because children actively try to not remember the abuse.
But, regardless of the case-specific dynamics, Bowman told jurors that it’s very uncommon for children to “make up” sexual assault allegations, also noting the difficulty they experience with public disclosure in a court setting.
The trial is expected to finish Friday.
