DA drops rape charges against Chartiers Valley 2-sport star
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office on Wednesday dropped rape and related charges against a former Chartiers Valley basketball and baseball standout.
Ross Wilkerson, 18, was charged in March with rape, aggravated indecent assault and unlawful restraint for allegedly assaulting a then-17-year-old girl.
The girl told police that on March 1, Mr. Wilkerson invited her to his home through Snapchat. According to the affidavit of probable cause, he told her he had something for her and said to come to the pool house, where he and a friend were.
She said when she got there, she was forced into a closet and assaulted by Mr. Wilkerson.
On Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Michael Berquist told Common Pleas Judge Alexander Bicket that the victim and her mother told DA’s officials on Friday that they no longer wish to pursue the case.
“They want to move on with their lives,” he said.
But Mr. Wilkerson’s defense attorneys, Michael and Michele Santicola, said after the hearing that
based on information they found in investigating the rape claims, there was no way the prosecution could have moved forward.
Among evidence they found, Mr. Santicola said, were text messages and social media posts between the victim and her friends.
“The way it was described in the affidavit, the way the police investigated and filed it was simply untrue,” he said. “She told a drastically different story. She told us this was a violent rape, and we knew that was completely false.
“Ross was consistent from the beginning. There was no crime here, absolutely no crime.”
Instead, they said, it was a consensual relationship.
“I believe had the investigating officer done some basic research into this case and not knee-jerked and filed this case in the beginning, we would not be here,” Mr. Santicola said.
Asked whether the alleged victim ought to be charged, he vacillated.
“I think this is a troubled girl. She was a minor at the time,” he said. “If you talk about it in a vacuum, absolutely. There should be some ramification for people that make these allegations when they’re not true. That’s a slippery slope.”
The DA’s office would not respond to Mr. Santicola’s comments.
Mr. Wilkerson had been offered a scholarship to play baseball at John Carroll University. His attorneys are hoping that with the charges dropped, and plans to have his record expunged, he might still be able to play there. The burden on he and his family, emotionally and financially, Mrs. Santicola said, was significant.
“It’s terrible. Ross was taken out of school in handcuffs. He missed a lot of his senior year. He missed the end of his senior basketball season. He was a basketball star,” Mrs. Santicola said. “Youcan’t unring a bell.”