Jury renders rape verdict

MICHAEL MEAD

BY STACI WILSON

After deliberating for over seven hours, a Susquehanna County jury handed down a mixed verdict Wednesday night finding a Montrose man guilty of rape and four other sexual assault charges but rendering not guilty verdicts on two sex counts.

Michael Mead, 41, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a girl who was 15 years old when the abuse began in August 2009. The incidents all happened at a residence in Bridgewater Twp.

Mead, 41, was found guilty of rape, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and two counts of aggravated indecent assault. The jury found him not guilty of one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one count of aggravated indecent assault.

District Attorney Jason Legg said, “The jury’s verdict provides some closure to the nightmare that the victim has endured, but she also recognizes that she will carry for the rest of her life the terrible emotional and psychological scars that every sexual assault victim endures.  There is no way to express just how much the jury’s verdict meant to her.”

The Susquehanna County Independent does not identify the victims of sexual assault.

Going in to the trial, 290 counts had been lodged against Mead. Those counts were consolidated into two separate courses of conduct, divided by the age of the victim at the time of the incidents.

The jury found Mead guilty on the five counts that dealt with incidents that occurred prior to the girl’s 16th birthday in November 2009; and not guilty on the two charges pertaining to incidents that allegedly occurred after Nov. 2009.

Mead could spend the next 25-50 years in prison on the guilty counts. Sentencing was scheduled by President Judge Kenneth Seamans for June 21.

The judge also ordered for Mead to be evaluated by the sexual predator assessment hearing board prior to his sentencing.

The court granted a bail revocation motion made by the district attorney and Mead was taken into custody to await sentencing.

 

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