Judge rules young boy’s statements admissible in grandfather’s assault trial
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Statements made by a 3-year-old boy who claimed he was assaulted by his grandfather two years ago in Vandergrift can be used in the court case against the grandfather, a judge ruled Thursday.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected a defense bid to end the case against Timothy John Turner, who is awaiting trial for aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment in connection with a Sept. 14, 2022, incident in which authorities claim he slapped the boy in the face.
Turner, 49, has denied the allegations, and his defense attorney, Duke George, said the prosecution should not be allowed to proceed because the child was too young to testify. George argued statements the boy made to his mother, medical officials and child experts cannot be believed.
“I don’t think they are able to prove it based on the law,” George said of the case against Turner.
The judge ruled the boy’s statements are admissible evidence at trial because they were made without prompting by adults and were uttered in the immediate aftermath of the alleged incident.
Prosecutors said the child is not expected to testify at the trial, which is scheduled to begin in February. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said the case against Turner will be based on a statement the child gave to Vandergrift police Officer Richard Gray in which the boy claimed his grandfather slapped him across the face with an open hand.
“Pappy strike. Pappy strike me with his open hand,” Gray said the boy told police.
The prosecution said the child, now 5, reiterated that accusation during an interview with child abuse experts and medical personnel.
Tabitha Scott, the boy’s mother, testified that when she returned home from work she found her son on a couch upset and with marks on his face. The boy said he was hit by his grandfather, who had come to the residence that afternoon at the request of the child’s uncle, who was left to babysit.
Gray said the marks on the boy’s face prompted him to recommend the child be taken immediately to a hospital for medical evaluation.
Dorian Turner, 24, said he called his father to come to the house after he picked up the child from preschool. He testified he was outside on a porch and remained there after his father arrived, heard screaming from inside the home and later saw the older man standing over the child and telling the boy “don’t do that again.”
Timothy Turner remains free on bail.