Trial begins for Monessen man accused of sexually assaulting autistic woman
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The lawyer for a Monessen man told a Westmoreland County jury that a sexual relationship between his client and a Rostraver woman more than two years ago was consensual.
Jerry Francis Griest, 63, is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault in connection with allegations he forced himself on an autistic woman in her apartment in August 2022.
“The key words here are forcible compulsion, the use or threat of force or psychological coercion, and they won’t be present here. Mr. Griest contends he did engage in a consensual encounter with the alleged victim,” said Assistant Public Defender James Spiestersbach in his opening argument to the jury Tuesday afternoon.
Testimony in what is expected to be a brief trial that features just two witnesses will begin on Wednesday before Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Echard told jurors the accuser is expected to claim she initially rejected sexual advances from Griest, who worked as a maintenance man at her apartment building and who invited himself into her home to watch television.
Griest, according to Echard, continued to make sexual advance,s then led his accuser into her bedroom where he disrobed, pulled off her clothes and pinned her down on a bed.
“She distinctly said ‘no’ and pushed him away several times, but she was afraid if she fought back he would hurt her,” Echard told jurors. “The victim has autism and is afraid of conflict, so after awhile, she just let things happen.”
Griest was previously free on a $5,000 unsecured bond that was revoked in August and remains in the county jail pending the outcome of his trial.
According to court records, Griest has a lengthy criminal past, including convictions for setting fire to a boat in 2003 and arson of a Monessen bowling alley and an abandoned home in 2006, for which he pleaded guilty to 34 counts and served a 5- to 10-year prison sentence.