Charges dropped in rape case

Witness credibility issues prompt action

Sara Ganim

BELLEFONTE — Charges were dropped Thursday against a 19-year-old Bellefonte man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl last summer because of concerns over witness credibility for a trial scheduled to begin today.

“Sexual assault cases are difficult enough to prove,” said Assistant District Attorney Yvette Will-son. “Unfortunately, in this case, when we re-evaluated the case, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that we were just not going to be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Storm M. Riglin had been charged in July after a teen told police Riglin raped her at his Heritage Lane home after they had one consensual encounter in 2008. At the preliminary hearing, she testified that she did not report the incident for more than a year because she didn’t think at the time that Riglin did anything wrong. She also said they continued having consensual sex in between two more alleged rapes.

On Thursday, Riglin’s attorney Karen Muir said she made prosecutors aware that 10 witnesses were going to testify at the trial that Riglin wasn’t even living at a home on Heritage Lane when these assaults were alleged to have happened.

“Based on the defense investigation, we were able to demonstrate to the commonwealth reasonable doubt in this case,” Muir said. “We were able to demonstrate that the statements by the alleged victim in this case were not true. We were prepared to attack her credibility, and in a case of ‘he-said, she-said,’ credibility is all she has.”

Muir said the accuser’s past would have also been heard by jurors based on precedent set in the prosecution of former Penn State football player Austin Scott. In both cases, jury would have heard of similar rape allegations the accusers had made in the past.

The teen girl also had several juvenile cases that jurors would have heard about at trial, Muir said.

“He is relieved,” Muir said of Riglin after she told him the news Thursday. “His family is relieved. This has been very difficult months for him in defending and fighting this type of an allegation.”

Riglin had maintained that all the encounters were consensual.

If the case had gone to trial, Muir said she would have also raised issues with the credibility of other witnesses, “including police officers,” but said she couldn’t elaborate.

“Unfortunately I cannot disclose any other information,” Muir said. “We were in meetings with the court involving those credibility determinations up until the point the commonwealth withdrew the case.”

Sara Ganim can be reached at 231-4616.