The Morning Call

Groom convicted of sexually assaulting bridesmaid days before his wedding in Monroe County

- — Morning Call staff

A Stroudsbur­g man was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting a bridesmaid two days before his wedding.

After a four-day trial, a jury convicted Daniel Carney, 31, of aggravated indecent assault without consent, indecent assault without consent, simple assault and criminal attempted sexual assault after about eight hours of deliberati­on, according to the Monroe County district attorney’s office.

According to a news release from the district attorney:

The wedding party — including the bridesmaid, a 29-year-old Oregon woman — went on a Delaware River rafting trip Aug. 30, 2019, ending at the Shawnee Inn in Smithfield Township.

There, a video showed Carney leading the bridesmaid, who was drunk, down a hall toward the entrance to the men’s locker room and then pulling her through that doorway. He sexually assaulted her in a shower stall.

Afterward, on the morning of his wedding Sept. 1, 2019, Carney apologized in a text message in which he acknowledg­ed his conduct and requested that the woman take Plan B contracept­ion.

The woman went to a hospital, where an exam found numerous bruises, after which state police were called.

Monroe County Judge Stephen M. Higgins oversaw the four-day jury trial. Carney faces 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in late July, following a pre-sentence investigat­ion and sexually violent predator assessment.

Assistant District Attorney Christy Schlottman, the lead prosecutor on the case, was pleased to have gotten justice for the victim, according to the release.

 ?? MANUEL GAMIZ JR./SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL ?? Daniel Carney leaves a Monroe County District Court on Oct. 30. He is charged with sexually assaulting a bridesmaid two days before his wedding.
MANUEL GAMIZ JR./SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL Daniel Carney leaves a Monroe County District Court on Oct. 30. He is charged with sexually assaulting a bridesmaid two days before his wedding.

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