Commonwealth v. T.B.

The complainant, a twenty year old, reported to police that T.B., her biological father, sexually assaulted her when she was six years old. T.B. was arrested on a variety of sex offenses and entered a plea of not guilty. At trial, the Commonwealth argued that there was no motive for the complainant to lie regarding these allegations and that her allegations were corroborated by medical records showing that the complainant was treated for genital warts when she was nine years old. However, after a vigorous investigation the defense presented evidence that another man had been arrested and convicted for sexually assaulting the complainant during the same time period. The defense argued that the identification of T.B. as another perpetrator was tainted by the actions of the mother over the course of her childhood (laid out in detail on cross examination), who harbored resentments against T.B. for leaving her with three children. Although the mother claimed that she had reported the sexual abuse to DHS when it had occurred in 1998, the defense established at trial that no such complaint had been made. The defense argued that while the victim was in fact sexually assaulted, the mother had implanted false memories into her mind regarding her father. T.B. was found not guilty of all charges and thereby avoided a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 10 to 20 years as well as lifetime sex offender reporting requirements under Meghan’s Law.