Prosecutor: Scottdale man's control enabled sexual assault of girl

A Westmoreland County prosecutor told jurors Monday that repeated and sometimes daily sexual assaults against a young girl was about control.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Hammers in an opening statement in the rape trial of a Scottdale man accused of molestation and sexual assaults said the abused started in May 2011 and ended December 2016.

“This defendant has no job. He never left the residence. He manipulated others to leave the house and has his mother bring him everything needs. He even has locks on his bedroom door,” Hammers said.

Dylan Chiaramonte, 27, is accused of the rape of a child, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor. Prosecutors contend the sexual abuse started when his alleged victim was just 4 and continued through age 9.

“These things occurred so often it was like routine, she said sometimes daily,” Hammers told jurors.

Defense attorney Timothy Kidd said the prosecution’s evidence, which relies on the now 13-year-old alleged victim, will not be sufficient to prove Chiaramonte’s guilt.

Kidd questioned how the initial complaint against his client surfaced and suggested the criminal investigation was based on unreliable comments a younger sibling made to a teacher.

“My gosh, you have to have something more than this girl said that. We believe you’re never going to get that,” Kidd said in his opening statement to jurors.

Testimony will begin when the trial resumes Tuesday morning before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway.

Criminal trials restarted last month in Westmoreland County after a four-month hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jurors are spaced out on one side of the courtroom to allow for social distancing and spectators for the trial are limited while testimony from several witnesses could be taken remotely, officials said.