Lower Burrell man on trial for sex assault charges against child
Aug. 8—A mother's questioning of her 10-year-old daughter over suspicions of stolen rent money led to allegations of sexual improprieties against a neighbor, a Westmoreland County prosecutor said Tuesday.
Assistant District Attorney Judi Petrush told jurors that instead of admitting to theft of the cash the child unexpectedly disclosed reports of improper sexual contact that occurred over the previous months in a Lower Burrell home.
"A little girl should feel safe in her neighborhood. She should be safe with her parent's friends. This is a case about betrayal of trust," Petrush said during her opening statement to jurors in the first day of a sexual assault trial of Edgar Lee Williams.
Williams, 42, of Lower Burrell is accused of having improper sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl during the summer and fall months of 2020. He is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, corruption of a minor and unlawful contact with a minor. In a separate case also before the jury, Williams is charged with illegal possession of firearms.
Prosecutors contend Williams befriended his accuser and her family, allowed the girl into his home to play video games and watch movies. During one of the visits, Williams lured her into a bedroom, pulled down the child's pants and performed sex acts on the child, according to the prosecution.
The girl's mother testified in early November 2020 she discovered funds in her daughter's school lunch fund matched a missing portion of the family's rent money and questioned the child about the situation.
Her daughter became upset, she said.
"I tried to explain to her that it was not her fault if someone told her how to do something that wasn't right. Then she told me something happened when she was at the defendant's home," she testified.
The girl, now 13, testified Williams performed a sex act one time and tried do so again one or two additional times in the bedroom of his home.
"We didn't want to believe. There was doubt. You don't want to find out your friend is capable of this," said the mother, telling jurors she and her now husband quickly reviewed their daughter's internet history and telephone to see whether she had reviewed any material online that resembled her allegation.
"We found nothing," her mother testified.
Prosecutors said the Lower Burrell police confirmed the girl's description of Williams' bedroom, including the presence of multiple guns that were stored in the home. Williams, who has prior felony convictions including corruption of a minor and burglary, is barred from possessing firearms, according to prosecutors.
Williams has denied the allegations.
Defense attorney James Robinson told jurors the girl concocted the sexual allegations and that the guns found in his home belonged to his live-in fiancee.
"He was just trying to be a good neighbor," Robinson said. "We're maintaining the sexual assault didn't happen. There's no proof my client did anything (she) says that he did."
The prosecution will continue to present evidence in the case when the trial reconvenes Wednesday.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
