The Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a split ruling in answer to appeals by the former operator of a Dickson City game shop and his two brothers who were sentenced in 2023 for sexually abusing a teenage girl who frequented the business in the mid-2000s.
The men were found guilty in a jury trial in October 2022.
In July 2023, Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse ordered Sean Mancuso, 55, of Dunmore, former operator of Adventure Games, to serve eight to 17 years in state prison.
His brother Damien Mancuso, 47, of Dickson City, was to serve five to 10 years in state prison plus five years’ probation, while Rian Mancuso, 46, of Dickson City, was sentenced to six to 12 months in Lackawanna County Prison and six years’ probation.
Sean Mancuso was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of a minor. Damien Mancuso was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of a minor, while Rian Mancuso was convicted of indecent assault and corruption of a minor.
The Superior Court ruled in favor of each of the three brothers, but to different extents. The court indicated it heard the appeal of the three brothers together to facilitate the disposition of the cases.
In the case of Damien Mancuso, the court completely reversed his sentence because prosecutors failed to specify a date of the offense, a violation of his right to due process.
In his appeal, he argued that lack of specificity precluded him from providing an alibi offense, and the Superior Court agreed.
The Superior Court saw the prosecutors’ failure to narrow down the time of the alleged assault as problematic.
The court questioned the victim’s inability to narrow down the time frame to less than one year.
“Since she was age sixteen at the time of the alleged assault, long past childhood, she should have been able to identify some event — e.g., the season, the weather, whether school was in session, her birthday — that narrowed the time span to less than one year,” the court wrote.
The court emphasized that they didn’t make the decision lightly in view of the serious nature of the charges, but felt compelled to do so because of evidence and legal precedent.
The Superior Court also reversed Rian Mancuso’s sentence, but in that case ordered a new trial.
In their opinion accompanying the ruling, the appellate judges ruled the lower court abused its discretion in consolidating Rian Mancuso’s trail with his brother Damien’s trial.
It also cited prejudicial comments the prosecution made during closing arguments that encouraged the jury to find Rian guilty by association with his brothers.
The appellate court acknowledged the trial court instructed the jury not to consider evidence against Damien or Sean while deliberating on the charges against him, but believed the instruction didn’t go far enough to “preclude our determination that Rian suffered prejudice.”
The higher court upheld Sean Mancuso’s convictions but ordered him to be resentenced, ruling that the lower court erred in failing to merge his convictions for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault for purposes of sentencing.
Victim speaks out
The brothers were arrested in 2020 after the victim, now 39, reported they assaulted her in separate incidents beginning in 2003, when she was between the ages of 14 and 16. The woman said she came forward after seeing media coverage of Sean Mancuso’s prior arrest.
The woman testified at trial that Rian Mancuso forced her to touch his groin and lifted her dress and placed his face near her genitals during an encounter at the business in 2003, when she was 14. That same day, Sean Mancuso forced her to perform a sex act on him, she said.
The woman also testified that two years later, Damien Mancuso forced her to perform oral sex on him in his car after he gave her a ride from the business.
County DA responds
Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said the decision places an impossible burden on victims of abuse in asking them to recall precise timing of traumatic events.
“This opinion risks silencing victims and preventing prosecutions before they ever begin,” he said.
“While the Court upheld one brother’s conviction, remanding only for resentencing, it reversed another conviction on grounds that, in our view, impose an unworkable standard in delayed disclosure sexual abuse cases,” Gallagher said. “We certainly respect the Court’s role, but we strongly disagree with this aspect of the ruling. This decision will have devastating effects on sexual abuse investigations.”
The result of the decision is incongruity between the state Legislature’s expansion of victim’s rights and the decision’s restriction on their ability to seek justice, Gallagher said.
“Our office is actively analyzing the merits of seeking further review before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,” he said.
Sean Mancuso (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)
Damien Mancuso (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)
Rian Mancuso (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)