Butler man, 24, held for court in alleged rape of teen girl
A Butler man was ordered held for court in the alleged repeated sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl last summer.
District Judge William Fullerton found there was sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing Monday to send the case against Brandon F. Moore, 24, to trial.
Moore is charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats, indecent assault and simple assault.
He remains in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail.
Butler Patrolman Eric Klopfer was the lone witness to testify at the hearing.
Klopfer said his investigation began after state police notified Butler police about the girl's allegations, which surfaced Dec. 4 while troopers were looking into an unrelated case.
The girl was subsequently interviewed Dec. 27 by an official with the Butler County Child Advocacy Center. Klopfer observed the interview.
He testified that the victim told the interviewer that Moore was “the one who raped me.”
She alleged that he first sexually assaulted her last summer in the woods at Butler Memorial Park.
The teenager told authorities that Moore, later that summer, assaulted her a number of other times, Klopfer said. She said she told him “no,” but he allegedly forced himself on her.
She accused the defendant of slapping her face when she told him “no.”
Moore also allegedly threatened to kill the girl if she told anyone that he had sex with her, Klopfer said.
On cross-examination, Moore's attorney, public defender Charles Nedz, asked the officer if he knew how many times the girl claimed his client assaulted her.
“Several,” Klopfer said. When asked for a number, he said, “Five to 10, maybe.”
But Klopfer acknowledged the girl was unable to provide specific days or times of the alleged assaults.
Moore eventually appeared at the station for an interview. During the Feb. 1 interview, Klopfer said, the defendant claimed the girl “pursued” him.
At the end of the testimony, Nedz asked Fullerton to dismiss the rape charge.
“There are very, very few details how these (alleged) sexual assaults were committed by Mr. Moore,” Nedz argued.
But prosecutor Terri Schultz, an assistant district attorney, countered that Klopfer's testimony included the girl's allegations that the defendant held her down and struck her, and assaulted her as she told him “no.”
“That, I believe, is forcible compulsion,” Schultz said, referring to the definition of the crime of rape, under state law.
