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Bail denied for man accused of aggravated indecent assault
Saturday, October 27, 2012
By Jeff Corcino Staff Writer
DUBOIS - A Treasure Lake man accused of repeatedly molesting a 10-year-old girl waived his right to a preliminary hearing, yesterday before Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins.
Karl Porter, 39, is charged with 12 counts of aggravated indecent assault of a child and 12 counts of indecent assault of a child younger than 13 years old.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 11, the girl told her mother Porter had molested her multiple times over the past year and a half. The girl told her mother that she didn't say anything earlier because she was afraid.
The girl's mother then confronted Porter over the allegations. He initially denied it but when she asked how he could do something like that, he put his head down and said "I don't know," repeatedly. He then said "I need help."
The girl's mother informed the girl's father and her parents informed the police.
On Sept. 19, the girl was interviewed at Western PA Cares for Kids in Brookville, where she gave details of the abuse to investigators.
Porter was then interviewed by Sgt. Rodney Fairman of the Sandy Township Police Department. Porter said he knew why he was being interviewed but repeatedly denied molesting the girl.
He was then asked if he had a sexual addiction problem and Porter eventually admitted that he did, but refused to go into any more detail on his addiction.
When he was asked again if he had inappropriately touched the girl underneath her clothes, he said he might have accidentally touched her inappropriately when tickling her. He said if he did touch her inappropriately, it was by accident.
Porter's attorney, Dan Bell, asked Judge Hawkins to reduce Porter's bail down from $100,000 straight. He said Porter is employed and needs to go to work to pay child support and to pay his mortgage.
Bell said Porter was willing to agree to supervised bail, wear a GPS tracking bracelet and to have no contact with the girl or her family.
However, Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr. cautioned against any reduction in bail, saying these are serious charges and Porter is looking at 10 years in prison on each count if convicted, and asked that if bail were reduced that Porter be required to wear the ankle bracelet.
Judge Hawkins denied Bell's request to reduce Porter's bail.
In other cases, David Reitz, 35, of DuBois who is charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and ethnic intimidation had all charges bound over to court following a hearing before Judge Hawkins.
A 16-year-old boy testified that over the summer, Reitz repeatedly harassed him and "said bad words" to him and often would tell him to "go back to Russia," when questioned by Clearfield County Assistant District Attorney Joshua Maines.
And the boy said, when he was working outside, Reitz would often walk by, laugh at him, swear and again tell him to go back to Russia.
He said it would make him angry but that he didn't do anything because he didn't want to cause any trouble.
In the affidavit of probable cause, the boy told police Reitz would say similar things to his mother but she didn't understand English very well.
And on Sept. 12, while driving home with his mother, Reitz flipped his middle fingers at them as he drove by.
When he told his father what Reitz was doing, his father called the police.
Officer Shawn Bloom of the DuBois City Police testified that he interviewed the boy and attempted to contact Reitz but was unsuccessful. He said he called his phone repeatedly and left a message but Reitz never replied.
Reitz was released on $5,000 unsecured bail and was ordered to have no contact with the boy or his family.
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