CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man was found guilty Wednesday of three felony and five misdemeanor charges for sexually assaulting a teen co-worker in June 2023.
Taylor James English, 29, was convicted by the jury of eight women and four men, of rape forcible compulsion, sexual assault, intimidation of victim, indecent assault, corruption of minors, terroristic threats, simple assault and disorderly conduct after a two-day trial.
He was acquitted of a felony count of criminal attempt-involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
It took the jury less than 30 minutes to reach their decisions.
The assault occurred at a neighboring business on the Clearfield Shawville Highway.
Deputy District Attorney Tami Fees, who prosecuted the case, said he could serve from 90 months to 20 years in state prison. English, whose bail was revoked, will be sentenced within 90 days.
Fees said she was very proud of the victim, adding that she did a phenomenal job with her testimony.
“The jury understood her story and believed her. She was very credible.”
District Attorney Ryan Sayers stated that the investigating officers and Fees did a “great job.” Justice was served because this victim came forward and testified, he said.
During Wednesday’s court, English testified in his own defense, saying the sex was consensual.
He claimed they were both outside the business smoking when the 17-year-old began flirting with him. They moved to another location, nearby “where she was more comfortable,” he said because she didn’t want to do anything in public.
The affidavit states the victim told investigators that he led her to the location where no one could see them. When she refused to go down a slope, he “grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her with him as he walked down.”
In that secluded area, he threatened to kill her whole family if she did not do what he asked. When he told her to take her pants off, she refused. It was then, he reportedly pushed her to ground and raped her. Afterward he attempted to rape her again, but she was able to push free of him and run to the parking lot. He followed and reportedly threatened her family again.
The victim said she had to keep working with him after the assault, which made her “want to kill herself.”
In his testimony, English claimed she kissed him first and started fondling his private area, before they had sex. He also claimed he asked her twice if she wanted to do it. She agreed to it both times, he said.
He initially believed she was 18 or 19-years-old because she was smoking, he testified.
In his interview with police, his story changed. He explained how he was concerned he could lose his job for having sex with a minor. He also stated he was tired that day and was trying to figure out what the officers wanted him to say.
He kept changing his story because he “wanted to get out and go home.”
When questioned by his attorney Chris Pentz about allegations he threatened to kill the girl and family members in a video where he had a gun, English claimed the gun was simply in a holster on the wall in the background.
(English is also facing felony possession of firearm prohibited charges for this incident, but that charge was severed from the main case and will be prosecuted separately, Fees said.)
During her cross examination, Fees questioned many varying details of his account including that he said he left his home to walk to his job at 11 a.m., and it takes him 50 minutes to get there, yet he was in the break room that day with the victim when she clocked out at 11:04 a.m.
Quickly English replied that the victim had only told him she had checked out, again changing his story. Fees commented he was doing the same thing with her that he did in his police interview, constantly shifting the details of that day.
In the affidavit, it clarifies that English had asked the victim to stay after her shift ended at 11 a.m. to talk with him, even asking her to tell her mother to pick her up at noon. His shift was scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
In his closing arguments, Pentz stated that the victim made some “poor decisions” including going with English and questioned why she didn’t scream to alert the many people in the area when he pushed her down that slope. She also told co-workers she had sex with him but didn’t say she was raped.
“There are issues on whether her version is correct,” he said.
When Fees gave her closing arguments, she pointed out that if the gun was on the wall in the video behind English and not being shown to her as a threat, how could the victim know both the color and make of it.
A witness testified Tuesday that the victim mentioned to her that English raped her within weeks of the assault, according to a previous article.
The victim was telling other people it was consensual sex, Fees said, because English threatened to kill the girl and her family if she said she was raped.
“If you have sex with someone, you don’t tell people it was consensual.”
English is facing similar charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a second teen co-worker. That case is still pending.
