Limerick man jailed for rape of underage girl
Zachary Daniels, then 19, admitted to raping girl, 12, at Lower Pottsgrove party
NORRISTOWN » A Limerick Township man faces up to a decade in prison for raping an underage girl during a party they attended at a Lower Pottsgrove residence.
Zachary Hunter Daniels, 22, of the 100 block of Laura Lane, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of rape of a child and aggravated indecent assault without consent in connection with an incident that occurred in September 2019 at a residence along Princeton Avenue in Lower Pottsgrove.
Judge Thomas C. Branca also ordered Daniels to complete 10 years’ probation following parole, meaning Daniels will be under court supervision for 20 years. Daniels also must report his address to state police after he’s paroled in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The judge ordered Daniels to have no contact with the victim.
Court documents indicate the girl was 12 years old and Daniels was 19 at the time of the sexual assault.
The investigation began in May 2020 when Lower Pottsgrove police received a report about the sexual assault.
“The reporting party had just become aware of the incident but had limited knowledge of the incident,” Lower Pottsgrove Detective Daniel Kienle wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding the reporting party identified the victim.
Detectives then interviewed the victim who advised she had attended a party at a residence on Princeton Avenue on Sept. 14, 2019, and that she and other attendees had consumed some alcohol, according to the criminal complaint. Dan
iels also attended the party, detectives said.
The victim said that sometime in the early morning hours of Sept. 15 she fell asleep on a couch in the basement of the home and was awakened by Daniels touching her in an inappropriate manner and having other sexual contact with her, according to court documents.
Daniels eventually stopped and went upstairs and the girl “continued to lay on the couch in fear and shock of what had just occurred,” Kienle alleged in the arrest affidavit. A short time later, Daniels returned to the basement, removed the victim’s shorts and underwear and sexually assaulted her, detectives alleged.
“(The victim) advised that during both incidents she was paralyzed with fear and shock about what was occurring. (The victim) reported that all of the acts were unwanted and not consensual,” Kienle alleged.
The victim told detectives that when Daniels fell asleep she fled to the first floor of the home and disclosed the incident to other friends.
Detectives said witnesses also claimed Daniels had recorded the sex acts and disseminated a video to others via the social media app Snapchat.
Witnesses told detectives that later on Sept. 15 Daniels reported having no recollection of what had occurred but apologized to the victim.
“The witnesses reported that Daniels was visibly upset and crying. The witnesses reported that Daniels departed from the residence after this occurred,” Kienle wrote in the criminal complaint.
Other charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, sexual assault, photographing or filming a sex act involving a child and disseminating a photo or film of child sex acts were dismissed against Daniels in exchange for his guilty plea to the rape charge.
Assistant District Attorney Emily D’Aguanno prosecuted the case. Defense lawyer Paul A. Bauer III represented Daniels.
“(The victim) advised that during both incidents she was paralyzed with fear and shock about what was occurring. (The victim) reported that all of the acts were unwanted and not consensual.”
— Lower Pottsgrove Detective Daniel Kienle alleged