Attorneys representing a former Scranton police school resource officer on Friday said they plan to appeal a jury verdict finding him guilty of rape and 28 other offenses a day earlier. A lawyer for the victims is also readying a civil lawsuit.
Stephen Carroll, 50, was convicted in a four-day trial. As the verdict was read, Carroll suffered a medical emergency and was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center by ambulance. He was at the Lackawanna County Prison on Friday.
Lead defense attorney Jason Shrive said he was disappointed with verdict but respected it and the judicial system.
“We put on the best defense case we could for our client. Stephen Carroll maintains his innocence and vows to appeal his conviction. We will be analyzing all avenues and issues for appeal in the coming weeks,” Shrive said, commending other members of the defense team, including co-counsel Jillian Kochis, for their “tireless work on behalf of Carroll, over the course of this case, but especially in the months and weeks leading up to trial.”
During closing statements, Shrive argued that the testimony of the five alleged victims conflicted, pointed out that it had been a decade since the alleged crimes took place and reminded the jury that poor judgment was not a crime.
Shrive told jurors he had felt discouraged the night before because he knew the prosecution’s closing statement would follow his, giving prosecutors the last word. But then he rethought that assumption and realized that the jurors themselves would get that last word — or what he had hoped would be two words: “not guilty.”
Helen Park, a senior deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania, encouraged the jury to come back with a last word of “guilty,” after considering evidence presented and testimony offered.
She countered Shrive’s assertions of inconsistent testimony and shifting accounts, emphasizing that the witnesses initially had been reluctant to share their stories.
The fact that they may have been abusing alcohol and drugs, she said, was consistent with their desire to fit in with their peers and with a “cool” police officer.
After the verdict, state Attorney General Dave Sunday commended jurors for paying close attention to the facts of the case.
“This verdict is not about the predator who committed these heinous acts, but the survivors of this abuse — who, for years, lived knowing that their abuser was free in the community,” Sunday said. “While it does not lessen the severity of the conduct or impact on the survivors, the passage of time can present challenges in court.”
Civil litigation planned
The five witnesses who testified they had been sexually abused by Carroll now plan to file a civil suit against him and other entities, according to attorney Robert T. Moran.
“Justice finally came for Steve Carroll today,” he said, following the verdict. “A predator, a monster ex-cop, got what he deserved with the jury’s courageous verdict.”
Moran sees Carroll’s conviction as providing a path forward to achieve civil justice for the five men.
“The institutions who facilitated and enabled his abuse to occur and continue unabated for more than a decade, they’re next,” he said.