Jury finds Youngwood man not guilty of serious assault charges

A Youngwood man was found not guilty Wednesday of all serious felony charges filed against him after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in two separate attacks two years ago.

Charles R. Agger Jr., who served as his own lawyer during the two-day trial, claimed he acted in self-defense. He argued to jurors that his accuser stabbed herself and used makeup to make her injuries appear more severe.

After two hours of deliberations, a jury of Westmoreland County residents acquitted Agger of aggravated assault, burglary, strangulation and harassment.

It found him guilty of one misdemeanor count of simple assault.

Prosecutors said Renee Scott, 57, was brutally beaten and sustained a concussion during two attacks about an hour apart in her Youngwood apartment on Nov. 14, 2017.

Agger, who has been in jail since his arrest, will remain in custody until he is sentenced in the next several weeks.

Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said Agger is unlikely to receive any additional jail time for the simple assault conviction.

He still faces revocation of his state parole for a conviction in Montgomery County from the late 1990s in which he was found guilty of a sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, according to prosecutors. Agger served a 4- to 10-year prison sentence in that case and was on probation when he was arrested on the assault charges two years ago.

Assistant District Attorney Tom Grace declined to comment Wednesday after the verdict was announced.

Scott testified earlier this week she and Agger had dated for about six weeks when he came to her home drunk, pushed her into a table and strangled her on a hallway floor during a confrontation.

Prosecutors said Agger fled after the initial attack but returned an hour later, entered the apartment through a living room window and repeatedly punched Scott in the face until she lost consciousness.

Jurors saw pictures of Scott’s bloodied face and bruises on her head, back and buttocks, which prosecutors said she sustained in the attacks.

In his closing argument, Agger told the jury that he and Scott argued. He said he returned later that day to apologize but she stabbed him in the back with a knife as he tried to leave her apartment.

He testified he turned around to fend her off and bumped her arm, causing her to stab herself above the eye. He suggested to jurors that Scott’s bloodied face and bruises were actually makeup she applied to fool doctors and police.

He admitted he punched her twice during the second confrontation.

“To me it was self-defense,” Agger testified. “I had no choice; I had to fight her for myself.”