Hempfield man accused in sexual assault of teen girl

State police arrested a Hempfield man Thursday, charging him with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in 2017, according to court papers.

Michael John Flowers, 22, is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

Troopers said in court papers that they spoke to the accuser, now 17, last month. Flowers was 18 when police said he was alone with the girl at a Latrobe funeral home in February 2017 and asked if she was wearing underwear, according to court papers. He made her touch his genitals and groped her over her clothing, police said.

The accuser told troopers that Flowers again touched her inappropriately at a pavilion in a Hempfield park. The third alleged incident happened at a Hempfield home. Police said he touched her inappropriately and tried to kiss her while the girl told him to stop, according to court papers.

During an interview with police, Flowers denied the reported incidents at the funeral home and park, though he said they engaged in sexual contact at the Hempfield home even though he knew her age. He showed investigators a 2018 conversation with the girl through the Instagram app that showed they were discussing the reported incident at the Hempfield home, police said.

Some of the messages he sent had been deleted from the conversation, police said.

Flowers is free on his own recognizance. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for March 16. He could not be reached.

His criminal history dates back to 2017, according to online court records. He was sentenced to five years of probation in 2019 in connection with corruption of minors charges stemming from a separate 2017 incident.