Dad cleared in vibrator case
HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Hollidaysburg-area father who told a jury that he bought a vibrator for his then-13-year-old daughter was cleared Tuesday of all criminal charges, including dissemination of sex material to a minor.
To reach a guilty verdict on that charge, the jury needed to conclude that the vibrator fit the legal definition of obscene material. After hearing Senior Judge Thomas G. Peoples read the applicable law for the second time, the jury concluded that it didn't.
"It was the right decision," defense attorney Mark Zearfaus said. "Sex toys are not illegal. It may not be advisable to buy one for a teenager, but it's not a crime."
The jury of seven women and five men also acquitted the father on a second charge of disseminating sex material to a minor, based on the daughter's accusation that they watched pornographic movies, and on additional charges of endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors and indecent assault.
The Mirror is not identifying the father and the daughter, now 16, to protect the girl's identity.
Assistant District Attorney Dan Kiss said the charges were based on the father's behavior which developed over several months after the daughter began staying with him on weekends in late 2009.
"This man groomed his young daughter to be sexually molested," Kiss said.
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