A Schuylkill County jury on Wednesday heard hours of testimony from the juvenile accuser of John T. Riley, who prosecutors allege sexually abused her over several years beginning when she was a pre-teen.
Riley, 44, is facing charges that include child rape and related offenses.
His trial opened in Courtroom 7 of Schuylkill County Courthouse before Judge James Goodman.
The jury consists of 11 women and 3 men, including two alternates. Proceedings are expected to continue into Friday.
Alleged Abuse Spanned Several Years
The accuser, who considered Riley a father figure after her mother’s relationship with him ended, testified that the abuse began around 2018 when she was in her early teens.
She said the assaults occurred at Riley’s Pottsville home, where she, her mother, and a sibling had once lived.
She described changes in the household after her mother and Riley separated, saying the home became increasingly cluttered and unkempt.
Despite the split, she said her relationship with Riley continued, but shifted in troubling ways.
Testimony of Escalation
The girl testified that the abuse started with what appeared to be innocent requests, such as massaging Riley’s legs, before escalating into sexual acts. She told jurors the incidents occurred frequently and intensified over time.
At one point, she said Riley showed her adult material to coax her into complying, and later the behavior allegedly advanced to sexual intercourse.
She described the moments before the initial attack when the contact began during what appeared to be playful activities, such as wrestling.
“I knew it wasn’t OK,” she testified. “I felt so gross.”
“The bad years”
The assaults on the girl continued into the following years. She described 2020 through 2022 as “the bad years” to jurors.
She told jurors that after one particular incident, she noticed a bodily injury but did not disclose it to anyone.
One of the final alleged assaults on her happened when she and Riley had arranged to watch a new movie at his home. As they watched the movie, Riley forced her into sexual intercourse.
“I was mad. I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she testified.
In the weeks following that incident, she said Riley would persistently ask questions that led her to believe that he was worried she was pregnant.
Not long after that last attack, the girl told jurors and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Bench that she attempted to break contact with Riley altogether. However, it was family members not knowing what had allegedly happened, that would tell her to reply to his messages.
Bench shared a lengthy thread of TikTok direct messages between Riley and the girl which showed him sending far more messages than she and that her messages were mostly dismissive and curt.
“I’m sorry for ever hurting you,” Riley purportedly wrote in one message that was shown to jurors.
Coming Forward
After years of enduring Riley’s alleged attacks, the girl testified that she eventually told a family member of his abuse.
She said the decision on what to do next was left up to her and that she worried about the consequences before ultimately going to authorities.
“I have whole sides of my family that don’t talk to me anymore,” she said. “It was a very difficult decision because there were so many consequences.”
Cross-Examination
During his cross-examination, Riley’s attorney, William Stephens, attempted to discredit the girl’s testimony.
Stephens’ line of questioning focused on the timeline of events and the girl’s ability to remember or not remember years when these alleged events took place. Conversely, he noted, the girl was able to remember specific dates about unrelated matters.
The girl also admitted that she didn’t come forward with her story until after speaking with two close friends who allegedly disclosed that they were also sexually abused.
“I didn’t now how to tell someone what happened,” she told Stephens.
She also said that Riley had told her that he had been sexually assaulted as a minor.
Late Wednesday afternoon, jurors also heard from a forensic interviewer, Jo Ellen Bowman, who was presented as an expert witness from the Child Advocacy Center.
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