Westmoreland judge grants delay for former Connellsville officer’s rape trial
A Westmoreland County judge has granted a request to delay the scheduled rape trial of a former Connellsville police officer.
The criminal trial for Ryan Thomas Reese, initially scheduled for next month, will be rescheduled for the next available trial term.
According to the court docket sheet, the trialwas scheduled to begin on Nov. 13 but was continued until Jan. 8 at 9 a.m. before Westmoreland County Judge Rita D. Hathaway.
Deputy Attorney General Patrick J. Schulte filed for a continuance in the case early last week stating that the alleged victim, an indispensable witness in the case, is hospitalized and will be unavailable for several weeks including the Nov. 13 time period in which the case was to be tried before a jury.
The alleged victim, a Tarrs woman, claimed Reese, a former member of the now-defunct Fayette County drug task force, questioned her in 2011 about a drug buy and then started using her as a confidential informant. Two months later, police alleged, Reese went to her Westmoreland County home with a warrant for her arrest.
The woman said Reese handcuffed her, put her on her bed and raped her when she went to her bedroom to change clothes.
The Herald-Standard does not identify those who allege they are victims of rape.
Earlier this month, a jury found Reese guilty of official oppression and not guilty of charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault in one of two similar cases in Fayette County. Reese is to be sentenced in that case in December.
In November 2016, a jury found him guilty of corruption of a minor, but not guilty on charges relating to sexual assault in the other Fayette County case.
In that case, Reese was sentenced to 9 to 24 months in prison and is awaiting a decision on his appeal from the state Superior Court.