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Jury: Monroe man guilty of sexual assault of bridesmaid

A Monroe County jury convicted a man of sexual assault after an incident with a bridesmaid the weekend of his planned wedding.

Daniel J. Carney, 31, of Stroudsburg, was found guilty of one count of felony criminal attempt of sexual assault, one count of felony aggravated indecent assault without consent, one count of simple assault, and one count of indecent assault without consent.

The jury deliberated for eight hours and returned the verdict Thursday.

The charges resulted from an incident that occurred on Aug. 30, 2019, when the victim was in town for a wedding as a bridesmaid for the bride-to-be.

The wedding party went on a rafting trip on the Delaware River, ending at the Shawnee Inn. The victim said she had three beers and one or two shots of vodka. She said she became heavily intoxicated and had trouble remembering some of the events.

Surveillance footage showed Carney and the victim entering the locker room. She was unsteady on her feet and swaying.

She said she recalled being led from the water, but did not know what occurred from there until she woke up in the downstairs men’s locker room and Carney was sexually assaulting her.

Surveillance shows the bride-to-be (Carney’s wife) came into the locker room and began screaming at him.

The video showed the victim came out into the hallway and could barely stand.

Following this encounter, on the morning of his wedding on Sept. 1, 2019, Carney sent the victim a text message apologizing, acknowledging his conduct and requesting that she take a Plan B contraception.

Later that day, the victim went to the hospital for a medical evaluation of the sexual assault in which numerous bruises throughout her body were documented.

The Pennsylvania State Police were called to respond to the hospital. The investigation was led by Detective Justin Leri of the Pennsylvania State Police- Troop N.

Judge Stephen M. Higgins, of the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, presided over the four-day jury trial.

After listening to three days of testimony and evidence, the jury heard closing arguments from the attorneys on the fourth day of trial.

Sentencing is scheduled for late July, a presentence investigation was ordered, a sexually violent predator assessment was ordered and Carney’s bail was modified to $75,000 secured. Carney could be facing a maximum on each felony of 10 years.

The District Attorney’s Office said in a press release it will be seeking a significant sentence of incarceration in state prison against Carney at the sentencing hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Christy Schlottman was the lead prosecutor on this case.