North Strabane teen waives hearing in sex assault case
An 18-year-old North Strabane Township man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Cecil Township late last year waived his case to court Wednesday.
Gavin Chase Randolph of 1344 Route 519 was arrested earlier this month by Cecil police Detective Mark Marcucci on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with minors. Randolph was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Central Court before District Judge Ethan Ward.
In December, the girl’s mother told Marcucci she discovered a sexually explicit video purportedly sent from Randolph to her daughter. The girl ran away at the beginning of December. When the girl returned home, the mother took her cellphone as punishment.
The mother discovered the cellphone was missing from her purse.
When she found the girl with the cellphone, the mother checked the content and found the video.
The girl reportedly admitted to a detective with the Washington County district attorney’s sex crimes unit she had consensual sex with Randolph.
In February, Randolph reportedly admitted to Marcucci during an interview with the detective he had sex with the girl and he knew she was 14. He also allegedly told Marcucci he sent the video to the girl’s cellphone.
Under state law, it is a crime for an adult to have sex with a person under the age of 16 when there is four or more years difference in age between them.
Assistant District Attorney Traci McDonald asked Ward to remind Randolph as a condition of his release on bond he is to have no contact with the girl.
“That means no contact through any means including Snapchat, text messages or third person,” McDonald said. “If she contacts him, he cannot respond because that would be a violation of these conditions. We will ignore recent contacts, but that won’t happen again.”
Defense attorney Christopher Blackwell told the judge he explained to Randolph if the girl contacts him he is to “have no discourse with her whatsoever.”
Ward told Randolph if he violated the terms, his $25,000 bond would be revoked and he would be returned to Washington County jail.