A jury of 7 men and 5 women convicted a Schuylkill County man on numerous charges of child sexual abuse Monday.
Raymond Hall, 57, of Pottsville was found guilty on all 17 charges he faced at his criminal trial on Monday inside Courtroom 1 at Schuylkill County Courthouse. He remained motionless and without expression as the jury foreperson read the verdict aloud. Meanwhile, family and friends of Hall’s victim in this case let out their emotions as the verdict was read.
This was the first of what could be three criminal trials for Hall on similar charges.
During the trial on Monday, jurors heard how Hall subjected a male victim to repeated sexual assault over the course of several years, up until he was 17 years old. That’s when the victim, who is now 18, came forward and eventually agreed to speak with Pottsville Police Capt. Joseph Welsh last July.
The victim told jurors the abuse started when he was about 11 or 12 years old. It happened at Hall’s home in Pottsville and at a garage he rented on Bacon St. in Palo Alto. He said the abuse started as playful between the two and then quickly devolved into a sexual nature. It would happen about once a week at the garage and incidents would also occur at Hall’s home.
“I asked him to stop. He would keep going,” the victim told jurors on Monday.
The victim told jurors in detail the acts Hall would perform on him and he’d be forced to perform on his attacker. That included an incident which prompted Senior Deputy District Attorney Jen Foose to request an additional charge of attempted rape during Monday’s trial.
“He said if I would keep it a secret, he would buy me things,” the victim told jurors. That included things like a quad or parts for his Jeep. Those are things Hall never delivered, despite his promises.
When questioned by Hall’s attorney, Charles Dutko, the victim said he never came forward after the many instances of sexual abuse because “I was scared” and because “I didn’t want (Hall) to go to jail.”
Eventually, he decided to come forward with the allegations against Hall because he had contemplated suicide.
“I wanted the pain to go away,” he said.
Hall was interviewed at City Hall by Welsh the day after his victim initially came forward last July. A recording of that interview was played for jurors. In it, Hall initially denied having any sexual contact with his victim in this case but after a little coaxing, eventually divulged details about his encounters.
“If he’s saying I did it, I did it,” Hall said during that interview, which jurors saw and heard.
Toward the conclusion of the interview, Hall alleged that he was subjected to sexual abuse as a child.
“I know I have a problem,” he told Welsh in that interview.
At the end, as Welsh allowed him to leave City Hall, Hall said, “You woke me up and got me to say stuff I didn’t want to say.”
Hall is currently facing similar charges in two other cases, with one potentially going to trial this Fall and another still at the District Court level following a continuance of a preliminary hearing last month.
NOTE: This article was edited slightly for clarity after several readers on social media believed Hall was released following his conviction.
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