Former Connellsville officer ordered to stand trial in rape case
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
Former Connellsville police officer Ryan Reese arrives at Central Court in Uniontown on Monday.
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
Ryan Reese of Connellsville and his attorney Emily Smarto leave Central Court in Uniontown on Monday following a preliminary hearing on charges that the former police officer coerced a woman to perform sex acts on him while he was a member of the county’s former drug task force.
A former Connellsville police officer was held for court after his preliminary hearing Monday in which a woman alleged he coerced her to perform sex acts on him.
Ryan Reese, 43, of Connellsville is also awaiting trial on charges for the alleged sexual assault of a minor in Fayette County and is awaiting a preliminary hearing on rape charges in Westmoreland County.
The alleged victim said she was arrested in early 2012 by Reese, who was also a member of the now defunct Fayette County Drug Task Force, after she allegedly sold morphine pills to a friend. The Herald-Standard does not identify those who allege they are victims of sexual assault.
She testified she began taking prescription narcotics from a friend as she was struggling to work as a server with pain from a difficult childbirth, fibromyalgia and arthritis. She said the friend later asked her for prescription pain medication, saying she needed help after helping her. The woman said she denied the requests three days in a row but eventually complied. She testified her friend said she was in pain after she was beaten by her boyfriend.
The woman said she tried to convince the friend to make the transaction discreetly, but eventually agreed to give her the pills in the parking lot of her workplace at Eat’n Park in Uniontown.
“The next thing I know, the task force was there to arrest me,” she said.
She testified Reese handcuffed her and took her to the task force building. She said she was terrified and wanted to return to work and her children at home.
The alleged victim testified she asked Reese if she should get a lawyer, and he acted upset with her, saying he would take her to jail if she did not write a statement.
“I was confused,” she said. “I’ve never been in any kind of trouble before.”
The next day, she called him about her charges, and he allegedly told her she could be sentenced to three to five years in a state prison.
She testified he told her she would not be receiving anything in the mail and that she should call him if she had any questions.
The woman said he offered to reduce her charges in exchange for completing three controlled drug buys as a confidential informant. She testified she felt stuck because she did not know three people who would buy drugs from her, and he asked if she wanted to pose as a prostitute for police investigations. She testified she was willing to do that, but no arrangements were made. She said she hired an attorney.
“(Reese) said he would prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law if I didn’t cooperate with him, and basically do whatever he said,” she testified, weaving rosary beads between her fingers.
About two weeks later, she said she called Reese and the two arranged to get a car seat and other belongings from her vehicle that was impounded. She said she asked him if there was anything she could do to help her case, referring to working as a confidential informant.
She said he responded by unzipping his pants and explicitly saying she could perform oral sex on him.
“At that moment, I was scared, but I thought it was a better option than going to jail,” she said, adding she thought about her husband and their marriage.
She said she cleaned her mouth out in the task force bathroom.
“I kind of wasn’t sure what to think,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if he just used me sexually and would still file the charges.”
She said under cross-examination that Reese mentioned her case may be dropped because of possible entrapment when she allegedly sold the morphine.
Reese nodded emphatically when his attorney, Emily Smarto, asked about the possibility of charges being dropped.
She said they met up on two more occasions after arranging meetings by text message. At the second meeting at the task force building, she said she was performing oral sex on him and he was more aggressive and choked her. She asked if she could do anything else instead.
“He just asked me to bend over the desk, so I did,” she said. “We had sex then.”
She said she asked him to use protection and he refused.
“I wouldn’t have done any of this had I not had these charges,” she said.
The third time she testified they met in Connellsville. She testified he was in full uniform and she performed oral sex on him in the police car in a parking lot.
“He zipped up, we got out of the vehicle, and that was that,” she said.
She said she never heard from him again and she was never charged. She said she texted him a few more times because she was unsure if he was still going to charge her. When he didn’t respond, she stopped.
“I wanted it to just be over with at that point and pretend like it never happened,” she said.
Cpl. James Aughinbaugh testified he interviewed the woman twice in September. He said she described the task force building “exactly as it was laid out.” He said he examined the alleged victim’s cellphone in and saw two texts from Reese arranging a meeting for oral sex.
Smarto argued that charges of rape, official oppression and two counts of sexual assault should be dropped. She said the alleged victim’s testimony contradicts the use of force. She argued the woman also consented to at least one of the sex acts.
Deputy Attorney General Patrick J. Schulte argued that not all force is physical force. He said her freedom of will was compromised in her interactions with Reese.
“He said, ‘Sign that or I’m taking you to jail’,” he said, paraphrasing the victim’s testimony about her arrest and written statement. “The precedent was set very early on what would happen if he was disobeyed,” he said.
He argued atmosphere and setting must also be considered in the case, saying he met her at the task force building twice and was in uniform once. Schulte said there can be no consent when psychological force is used.
“No one could be in more a position of authority as Mr. Reese did over this victim,” he said.
All of Reese’s charges — rape, official oppression, and three counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, sexual assault, and indecent assault by forcible compulsion — were held for the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas by Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. Shimshock.
Reese is free on a $25,000 unsecured bond.