Scottdale man's appeal of child rape conviction rejected

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday upheld the 20- to 40-year prison sentence imposed last year for a Scottdale man who was convicted of the repeated rapes of a 4-year-old girl.

A three-judge panel of the state’s Superior Court rejected claims made by Dylan Chiaramonte, 29, who said jurors were improperly allowed to hear evidence presented by prosecutors and that his lawyer was not allowed to claim witnesses had coached the young girl to make the rape allegations during forensic interviews that were part of the criminal investigation.

Chiaramonte was convicted in September 2020.

The appeals court ruled that Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway, who presided over the trial, properly allowed prosecutors to present testimony from an expert witness. In that testimony, the witness told jurors she did not have concerns about the credibility of Chiaramonte’s accuser.

Jurors found Chiaramonte guilty of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

County prosecutors claimed that, starting in 2011, Chiaramonte groomed and forced a 4-year-old girl into sexual acts and continued to do so for five years, sometimes daily. Witnesses at trial testified Chiaramonte manipulated the child to spend time in his locked bedroom and arranged for other adults to leave his Scottdale home to facilitate the sexual assaults.

Chiaramonte denied the allegations. During his trial, he testified was he physically unable to have sex because of his weight. He claimed he weighed 625 pounds during the time police said the sexual assaults occurred.