A Lackawanna County Court jury needed little time Friday to find a Monroe County man guilty of repeatedly sexual assault of a 12-year-old.<\/p>\n
Jurors deliberated only an hour before convicting Moise Robles, 30, of East Stroudsburg, of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault of a person less than 13 and corruption of minors, following a four day trial before Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle.<\/p>\n
The investigation began on Jan. 2, when\u00a0Blakely Detective Peter Petrucci responded to a borough residence regarding a report of child abuse to ChildLine that was forwarded to the Lackawanna County district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
The report alleged inappropriate texts between Robles and the 12-year-old, with few details.<\/p>\n
Officers spoke with a member of the girl\u2019s family, who said he noticed concerning text messages on the juvenile\u2019s phone and a FaceTime call that Apple flagged for inappropriate content during the Christmas holiday.<\/p>\n
An examination of the girl\u2019s phone indicated Robles would routinely tell her \u201cI love you\u201d and threaten to block her if she didn\u2019t immediately respond to his messages.<\/p>\n
At one point, the juvenile did a Google search asking if she could get pregnant even though she hadn\u2019t gotten her period yet.<\/p>\n
The text messages made it clear Robles knew the girl\u2019s age, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 9, a Children\u2019s Advocacy Center counselor interviewed the juvenile, who said the abuse started around Halloween.<\/p>\n
She described Robles as a friend of the family and said he began touching her inappropriately when no one else was around.<\/p>\n
The girl said she was scared and uncomfortable, but Robles said that if she told her family they would be mad at her.<\/p>\n
She told investigators that, if she resisted the abuse, Robles would push her away and strangle her to near unconsciousness. She described the experience as \u201cfeeling her body shutting down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robles also would strangle her during abuse, court papers say.<\/p>\n
Robles faces a maximum sentence of 74 years in state prison and will be required to register as a sexual offender for life.<\/p>\n
He will also be evaluated to determine whether he meets the criteria for classification as a sexually violent predator.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaw enforcement throughout Lackawanna County will continue to aggressively investigate, arrest, and prosecute those who prey on children. If you are a pedophile, we will hold you accountable.\u201d District Attorney Brian Gallagher said.<\/p>\n
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