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Uniontown man granted to work out of county while awaiting rape trial

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

A Uniontown man accused of raping a woman he met online has again received permission to leave the county because of work obligations.

Last week, Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen granted the motion for Shane Steven Brown, 22, to be allowed to leave Fayette County for his employment with a swimming pool contractor based out of Irwin, Westmoreland County.

Brown’s attorney, Shane Gannon, filed the motion last week, stating that Brown is currently free on $35,000 bond and was recently hired by the contractor as a laborer to install swimming pools in Westmoreland County and surrounding counties.

Brown is not permitted to leave Fayette County without permission as a condition of his bond.

Brown was charged with rape, rape of an unconscious victim, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and four other related charges after an 18-year-old woman was dropped off by her father at Brown’s residence on Dec. 22, 2015, after the two had been talking for several months on Facebook.

The alleged victim said they were watching television when Brown allegedly raped her.

The woman had previously testified that the day following the incident, Brown dropped her off at work and said she could come back any time; he later sent text messages asking for forgiveness, police said.

The Herald-Standard does not identify those who allege they are victims of rape.

In December, Leskinen granted a similar motion for Brown to travel outside the county as he was hired as a laborer with a landscaping and maintenance contracting company out of Lemont Furnace.

Another condition of Brown’s bond was to have no contact — directly or indirectly — with the woman.

He is currently awaiting trial.

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