Chester Twp. man acquitted of sexually assaulting teen

A 30-year-old Chester Township man was cleared of sexual assault charges following a one-day jury trial last week before Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kevin F. Kelly.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before acquitting Markel Moore on charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old, indecent assault with a person less than 16 years old and corruption of minors.

Moore, a former truck driver, was accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl at a house on the 1300 block of Elson Road in late 2014. The girl, now 18, told Assistant District Attorney Chris Boggs that she was a runaway at the time.

The girl’s godmother, Moore’s sister, said she got in contact with the girl and drove to Philadelphia where she was living with her teenage boyfriend. The girl said she was living with the boyfriend’s parents, but the godmother indicated the two appeared to be living alone.

The girl told Boggs that she was taken to the Elson Road residence. She said she was lying on a bed on the second floor when Moore, who she had known for years, entered the room and caressed her body. The girl said Moore then showed her a picture of his penis on his cell phone, but she put it away.

Later that day, the girl said she drove with Moore to his girlfriend’s house about four or five minutes away. During the drive, she said Moore coerced her into performing oral sex on him.

The girl reported the alleged abuse about a year later while living at a residential facility for teenagers.

Moore also testified that he was alone in the room with the girl and drove with her to his girlfriend’s house, but denied any sexual contact or discussions of sex between them. He noted he spoke to police told him to without a lawyer present after the allegations came to light because he did not feel he needed one.

Moore told investigators the car had been totaled in the intervening year. He said police never asked to see paperwork about the crash and never asked to see his cell phone, which he had in his pocket at the time of the interview. The phone did not have a picture of his penis, he said.

Boggs said in closing arguments that the small details of the girl’s story, such as propping herself up on her elbow when Moore entered the room, spoke to the truthfulness of her testimony. He also said the initial fondling was a kind of “gentle” assault and was believable because there was no reason to include that detail if she was also going to accuse Moore of forcing her to perform oral sex.

But defense attorney Gary Silver argued the commonwealth was asking the jury to convict his client with “not a stitch of evidence” that anything the girl said had happened. He noted there was no indication Moore had previously acted inappropriately with the girl or anyone else, and no scientific, forensic or corroborating evidence that any assault ever actually took place.