Ex-state trooper wants to hire a lawyer
The former trooper accused of sexually abusing a young girl is requesting time to hire an attorney to defend him.
NEW GARDEN » The former state trooper accused of sexually abusing a young girl in his care several years ago made a brief appearance Wednesday before a judge requesting time to hire an attorney to defend him against the felony charges of rape.
Darren Lawrence entered District Judge Albert Iacocca’s courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles accompanied by state constables as members of his family looked on. Lawrence has been held in Chester County Prison on bail since his arrest Monday on accusations that he sexually molested the girl while he was supposed to be caring for her.
Lawrence said little besides acknowledging that his family has been in discussions with a Delaware County defense attorney, Stephen Pacillio of Media, about representing him. Iacocca noted that Lawrence had failed to qualify for the free services of a public defender.
After continuing his preliminary hearing, which had been scheduled for Wednesday until March 11, Iacocca said he would continue Lawrence’s bail at $250,000 cash and had him returned to the prison to meet with Pacillio.
Lawrence asked if the continuance would invalidate the 180 days he has to be granted nominal bail under the state’s speedy trial rule, but Iacocca told him the only time taken off that clock at this stage would be the seven days between Wednesday and the scheduled hearing next week.
Deputy District Attorney Erin O’Brien of the DA’s Child Abuse Unit, who is prosecuting the case, reminded Lawrence that neither he nor any of his family members are permitted under his bail restrictions for having any contact, direct or indirect, with the alleged victim in the case, who is known to Lawrence even though she is not named in the criminal complaint against him.
He said he understood. The case shows the effectiveness, from a law enforcement perspective, of the laws in Pennsylvania that allow a person to raise allegations of sexual crimes against an alleged offender even though the normal statute of limitations may have expired.
According to Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan, who announced the charges against Lawrence
on Monday, effective November 2019, the statute of limitations for major sexual offenses committed against under a person under the age of 18 — such as rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, all of which Lawrence of charged with — was removed. Previously, the victim had until age 50 to report these crimes.
Also, a victim of child sexual abuse that occurs prior to their 18th birthday has until age 55 on some of the other sexual offenses – endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and others. These changes are only effective for those victims who were within the statute of limitations when it was changed and does not affect those cases where the statute of limitation had run before this was enacted essentially victims born before 1979, Ryan said.
“The statute of limitations has also been extended for victims under 23 so that they have 20 years after the crime to report, which also comes into play for us,” Ryan explained.
On Monday, Ryan and the Chester County Detectives announced the arrest of Lawrence, 59, of Pike Creek, New Castle County, Del., who served as a trooper at the Media barracks from 1982 until he was dismissed in 2000 prior to his arrest on state tax evasion charges.
The charges were filed after the alleged victim, now a 22-year-old woman, reported to county Detective James Ciliberto that she had been molested almost monthly from the time she was 9 until she was 12, from 2007 to 2010. The alleged incidents occurred at Lawrence’s home in Kennett and at a residence in Londonderry, when she was left alone with Lawrence by her mother.
The woman told Ciliberto, a member of the DA’s Child Abuse Unit, that Lawrence had committed the rape when she was between the ages of 10 and 11. She further stated that there were multiple acts of kissing, oral sex and sexual molestation when she was between the ages of 9 and 12 that occurred on a monthly basis for approximately three years.
She also reported that the defendant took nude photographs of the her when she was approximately 10 or 11. The events took place between May 2006 and June 2010.
Before he left Iacocca’s court, the judge permitted Lawrence to meet in a separate room with the members of his family who appeared at the preceding, including one of his sons. But he cautioned Lawrence not to have any physical contact with them — no hugs or handshakes, no kisses.
“You understand,” Iacocca told the former trooper. “You’ve been there before.”