West Goshen man sentenced for sexual assault

George Torsilieri to spend almost 2 years in prison

WEST CHESTER » In sentencing a West Goshen man to almost two years in prison for forcing himself sexually on a sleeping woman he had met less than 12 hours before, a Common Pleas Court judge on Monday declared that the “moral compass” of society had gone astray and needed to be righted.

“This should be a lesson to

all young men who would drink and take liberties with young women,” said Judge Anthony Sarcione, who ordered defendant George Torsilieri to 12 months less one day to 24 months less one day in Chester County Prison. “It’s getting out of hand.”

Sarcione said that he would not consider parole for Torsilieri, a promising young bio-medical engineer who had no prior record but who was convicted at trial of assaulting the woman he had met with friends out for the evening in West Chester two years ago, until he had served 22 months of confinement.

Torsilieri, who asked for mercy from the judge and promised that the experience of being arrested and prosecuted had left him a changed man, was led from the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind his back as members of his family and supporters wept aloud. He did not react to the sentence, and did not turn to look at his family before behind led from the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies.

His attorney indicated that he may appeal the conviction.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Morgan, had asked Sarcione to sentence Torsilieri to three to six months in state prison because of the impact his assault had had on the victim, a graduate student who woke up to find him on top of her, molesting and fondling her. But Sarcione said he would not do so because Torsilieri “would not survive a state prison setting.”

The judge, on the other hand, also rejected the request of the defendant, his family, and defense attorney Marni Snyder of Philadelphia, that he be spared any jail time in the case, and be given probation of house imprisonment. The judge said that there were virtually no factors that would have called for a probationary sentence for the crimes Torsilieri committed.

“The circumstances of this case were very concerning,” Sarcione said before handing down his sentence before a crowded courtroom. “To thrust yourself on a young lady is out of bounds. It is dismal behavior. It’s dehumanizing. It’s shameful.”

The victim, whose name is

being withheld by the Daily Local News because of the nature of the crime, told Sarcione in a lengthy statement how the assault that Torsilieri committed on her without warning or consent had changed her life and left emotional wounds she was still trying to heal.

“I said no,” she said. “I said stop. But that was ineffective, and George continued to rape me. I was an easy target. The damage he has caused me will last a lifetime. But today is the day that I have the power and I have control, and I have the floor. I am not responsible for his punishment; he is.”

Torsilieri, who lost his job at DePuys Sythes in East Goshen following his conviction and until Monday worked for his family’s landscaping firm in New Jersey, read a lengthy statement in which he tried to let Sarcione know about his upbringing and background, but also tried to apologize to the victim even without admitting complete criminal responsibility for what happened. He continues to assert that he believed she had consented to the sex that took place between them the night of the incident.

“For two years I’ve agonized over that night,” Torsilieri said, reading from the podium before Sarcione. “I take full responsibility that (the woman) felt violated. I have a lot of respect for women, and I will have to live with this for the rest of my life. I wish things had gone differently.”

Torsilieri was convicted of charges of aggravated indecent assault, a felony, and indecent assault, a misdemeanor. The jury found him not guilty on a charge of sexual assault, and Sarcione himself dismissed charges of rape by forcible compulsion at trial.

According to police accounts and the woman’s testimony, she had come to West Chester the evening of Nov. 13, 2016, to meet friends who lived in a house in the 100 block of Sharpless Street. Some time that evening, Torsilieri and others arrived, and several of them went out to two bars in the borough, where she had a few drinks. She had not met Torsilieri, a co-worker of one of her friends at Depuy Synthes, until that night.

Four of the group, including the woman and Torsilieri, went back to the Sharpless Street house around 2:30 a.m., and she eventually fell asleep on a sofa in the apartment while the others talked.

She testified that she woke up around 5:45 a.m. to find Torsilieri on top of her, trying to kiss her and fondle her breasts. She shook her head from side to side as she attempted to understand what was happening, and told him “no” as he tried to have oral sex with her.

The woman said Torsilieri then pulled off her pants, which he had apparently unbuttoned while she was asleep, and he began to penetrate her with his fingers. At some point, she said, she asked if he was wearing a condom, thinking that would stop him from proceeding. But he found a condom, put it on, and reportedly continued to have sex with her.

When he finally stopped and she went to the bathroom, she found herself bleeding, she said.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case by West Chester Detective Robert Kuehn, the woman telephoned a friend about what happened, who told her to go to the police. She and one of the other people in the house then went to the police station and made a report.

“I was paralyzed from fear,” the woman said.“I didn’t want to fight George.” She said that she thought, “it’ll just stop. It will be over.”

Snyder indicated that her client may appeal the conviction.