Bellefonte man bound over on assault, intimidation charges

A Bellefonte man was bound over on charges of simple assault and witness intimidation Wednesday after a preliminary hearing at the Centre County Courthouse.

Clayton B. DuBois, 18, faced a second preliminary hearing after a second set of charges were filed against him late last month. According to a State College police affidavit filed July 31, officers received a report of abuse on March 29 from the Centre County Children and Youth Services specifying an incident that had allegedly occurred in November.

According to the criminal complaint, a 15-year-old female had reported being with her boyfriend and another person at a Lemont residence on Nov. 6. She claimed that DuBois had put his hands around her throat and “slightly squeezed,” telling her he would kill her.

She said he later pointed a rifle at her, police said, causing her to be frightened and reminded of the earlier threat. He was charged on July 31 with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and harassment.

In a second criminal complaint filed Aug. 17, the female provided officers with a screenshot of a message DuBois reportedly posted on his Facebook pages about her and the criminal charges. The message, police said, called the female a liar, talking about their relationship and warning her she was going to be “charged with false accusations.”

During a preliminary hearing on Aug. 30, the female testified that in addition to the Facebook post, she, family and friends had been receiving numerous text and Instagram messages from unknown numbers, the affidavit said. The messages were reportedly all about her, her relationship with DuBois and the criminal charges.

DuBois was charged with a second set of charges on Aug. 31, according to court documents, with misdemeanor counts of stalking, harassment and witness intimidation.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the female testified to the incident, saying she was scared when DuBois had put his hands around her throat and later pointed the gun at her. She testified, however, that the incident had occurred on Nov. 7, not Nov. 6.

Under cross-examination by DuBois’ attorney, David Crowley, she stated she was afraid to testify because she believed DuBois and his friends would “lie to get him out of trouble.”

State College police Detective Chris Weaver testified to attempting to preserved DuBois Facebook page after last week’s hearing, but found within 30 minutes after the hearing, the page had been deleted. Crowley suggested that since a no contact provision had been added after the hearing, it wasn’t unreasonable for DuBois to delete something for which he could potentially be charged.

Presiding District Judge Thomas Jordan denied Crowley’s request that the second set of charges be dismissed, instead binding DuBois over on all charges. He remains free on unsecured bail as the case moves to the county Court of Common Pleas and toward trial.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Bellefonte man bound over on assault, intimidation charges."