Defense says police ruse invalidates confession in sex assault case

The lawyer for an Erie man accused of sex offenses claimed his client’s confession should be barred from evidence at an upcoming trial because police lied about the circumstances of the interrogation.

Timothy Colcombe, 37, was charged in January with felony counts in connection to allegations that he attempted to have sexual relations with the child and her mother, who live in Latrobe. Police said the case involved more than 8,000 text messages, including some in which he sought and shared illicit pictures, from August 2021 and November 2022.

Defense attorney Chris Rand Eyster, during a pretrial hearing Monday, argued Colcombe’s confession last September was invalid because it resulted from questionable tactics.

Colcombe initially was asked to discuss sex offender registration allegations related to two prior cases when investigators shifted the topic to new allegations involving the mother and daughter, the defense contended.

“I considered it a ruse,” testified state police Detective Christopher Marghella as he explained how he initiated Colcombe’s questioning.

Although Colcombe agreed to speak with police, he did so without understanding he was implicating himself in another crime, Eyster said. Colcombe, he argued, was not warned about his right to not speak with police when he was approached by investigators at his Erie-area home.

Marghella said Colcombe was not notified about his right to remain silent before a recorded interview with police hours later.

Prosecutors contend Colcombe gave a voluntary confession and suggested the misdirection from police was not improper.

“He was happy to talk and to minimize his involvement,” Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said.

The defense also is asking evidence of two prior sex cases be barred from evidence.

Colcombe pleaded guilty in 2011 in Armstrong County to two cases that involved sex crimes involving children, according to court records. In one case, Colcombe was accused of soliciting a sexual relationship with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl, and the other involved improper sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.

According to police, in the current case, Colcombe claimed he was in contact with the girl’s mother and was “role-playing” when he made sexual advances that included the child.

The girl’s mother was charged with child endangerment, corruption of minors and harassment. She has since died, prosecutors said.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger said he will rule on the pretrial issues early next year after reviewing written legal arguments from the lawyers.