Man allegedly used vacant home to have sex with underage girl

NORRISTOWN >> Prosecutors alleged that a Philadelphia man used vacant homes for sale in Norristown to have sex with an underage girl.

The trial began Wednesday for Jamal Alston, 39, of the 4500 block of Smedley Street, who is charged with multiple counts each of rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and related charges that tally up to 91 felony charges, according to court documents.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Price told a jury of 12 women, and one male alternate juror, that Alston set up the sexual encounters through Facebook messages under the user name “Licky Tab.”

Alston’s defense attorneys argued that, while the victim was indeed having intercourse with an olderman, that she lied about the identity of “Licky Tab” to protect a different man.

“Instead of throwing him under the bus,” said defense attorney James Lyons, and then pointed at the defendant, “you threw him under the bus.”

Lyons called the accusations against his client, “a sick, twisted charade.”

The victim took the stand and spoke quietly as she detailed sexual encounters she said took place with Alston, starting when she was 11 years old in a home in Pottstown. She said she was asleep the first time Alston allegedly had sex with her.

“I felt something tugging at my pants,” she said. “He told me to be quiet, so I did, and he proceeded to have sex with me.”

The victim said the first two times she had intercourse with the defendant, it was forced, and she attempted to push him off, but over the course of several years, she testified that she began to feel it was consensual.

Under cross examination, the victim testified that she was not cooperative with police when her sister uncovered what was happening, and at that time, she wanted the relationship to continue.

Prosecutors showed the jury messages between the victim and “Licky Tab” that contained directions for meeting up, and warned the victim to erase the messages. An early message came after the victim moved into a different home in Norristown.

“You still got duties to attend to,” one message from “Licky Tab” said. The victim said hewas referring to having sex with him.

When the victim was 14 and 15 years old, she testified, the defendant took her to three different vacant homes in Norristown to have sex. One of those homes was on the 600 block of West Elm Street.

The Realtor who listed the house in September 2012, Mary Beth Van Trieste, took the stand to explain that a website is used to schedule showings of the house. A licensed Realtor can log onto the site and request the combination for the lock box that holds the key.

The encounters ended when the victim’s sister took over her Facebook account and discovered the messages from “Licky Tab,” according to the affidavit. The sister took measures to find the man behind the “Licky Tab” username and file a report with Norristown Police.