Connellsville man facing trial on charges that he raped 12-year-old girl
CONNELLSVILLE – A city man will stand trial in Fayette County Court on charges that he raped a 12-year-old girl at his residence. Gary Wallace, 55, of 708 Morrell Ave., through attorney Dianne H. Zerega, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before District Justice Ronald Haggerty, but the magistrate ordered Wallace to stand trial after a preliminary hearing. Wallace remains free on $10,000 unsecured bond.
In May, city police charged Wallace with statutory rape, sexual assault, indecent assault and aggravated indecent assault stemming from two separate incidents between Feb. 27 and March 30, 2001, in which Wallace allegedly had sex with the girl without her consent. The complaint further states that the girl tried to “call out several times” but Wallace covered her mouth.
The girl said both incidents occurred while she and Wallace were cleaning the basement of his residence, where he resides with his wife and grandson.
The girl testified that during the first incident, Wallace touched her improperly, and in the second encounter, he pushed her onto a bed in a basement bedroom, removed her clothes and had sex with her.
After the incident, the girl said, Wallace told her “not to tell anybody” but did not threaten her before she returned upstairs.
“He never said anything would happen if I told, but I was scared that he would hurt me,” said the girl.
After the second incident, the girl said, she did not return to Wallace’s residence for further visits. Several weeks later, she said, she told her brother what had happened, and he told their sister, who then reported it to their parents.
When her parents confronted her about the incident, the girl denied that anything had occurred between her and Wallace because she was still “afraid,” she testified.
In February 2003, the girl said, she was admitted to a Pittsburgh hospital for depression, at which time she told hospital personnel that Wallace sexually assaulted her. The hospital then contacted Fayette County Children and Youth Services officials, who in turn contacted Connellsville police.
Wallace turned himself in to police May 28 and was arraigned before Haggerty.