CLEARFIELD – Jurors deliberated for approximately one hour and 10 minutes Tuesday afternoon before convicting a 31-year-old Mahaffey man, James L. Turner Jr., of statutory sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
Turner was found not guilty of the alleged Sept. 27, 2010 rape of a 15-year-old girl and of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with person less than 16 years of age. Turner’s bail remains the same at $50,000 unsecured.
After the verdict, Clearfield County District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. asked Judge Paul E. Cherry to revoke Turner’s bail, as he’d been convicted of a second-degree felony. Defense attorney Robbie Taylor asked for Turner’s bail to remain the same.
Taylor said Turner hasn’t had any bail infractions over the past two years. In addition, he said Turner has adhered to the probation department’s regulations.
“He has a family. He has things he needs to tend to before his incarceration,” said Taylor. He said Turner wasn’t a flight risk and has a clean record prior to this case.
Shaw argued that the “dynamics have changed” with Turner being convicting and facing a state prison sentence. He said Turner was an over-the-road truck driver who would have opportunities to leave the state. Taylor disagreed.
Cherry ruled that Turner’s bail would remain the same pending sentencing.
Afterward, Taylor said it wasn’t likely he’d file an appeal. He said although he believes Turner is innocent of all the charges, they respect the jury’s decision.
When interviewed by the press, Shaw said it came down to the girl’s testimony versus that of Turner. He said the commonwealth presented indisputable DNA evidence during the trial. Shaw said the jury obviously believed Turner had sex with the girl; however, they probably found whether or not it was consensual debatable.
Shaw said Turner will likely get sentenced to one to five years in state prison for the statutory sexual assault conviction. He said statutory sexual assault has a maximum sentence of 10 years.
He said indecent assault carried a minimum sentence of probation to three months of incarceration and a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration. He said corruption of minors has a minimum sentence of nine months to a maximum of five years.
However, he said the judge will determine the length of each sentence for Turner and if they ran consecutive or concurrent. He said Turner will be sentenced within 90 days.
Shaw said Turner will be subject to Megan’s Law and be assessed before his sentencing. Under the new Megan’s Law regulations, he believed Turner will be a life-time offender.
He said he was very pleased with the outcome of this case, as well as the investigative efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Click back to GantDaily.com for a full report of Tuesday’s trial proceedigs.
