LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster Township man was convicted Thursday afternoon on 17 charges that he repeatedly raped and sexually abused two juvenile victims between 2013 and 2020 in multiple locations in Lancaster, prosecutors said Friday.
Robert Austin, 33, of the 600 block of Wyncroft Lane, was found guilty by a jury of:
- rape of a child
- statutory sexual assault (11 years older)
- two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child
- sexual assault
- corruption of minors
- two counts of indecent assault of a person less than 13
- indecent exposure
- photographing sex acts of a child under 17
- two counts of possession of child pornography
- two counts of unlawful contact with a minor
- criminal solicitation of child pornography
- two counts of indecent assault of a person less than 16
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo prosecuted the case and said during her closing argument Thursday morning that if the jury believed the testimony of the victims, its deliberations should result in a guilty verdict for all charges.
“[The victims] described to you 7 years of prolonged abuse,” Collo said. “[Austin] is here for a week. They need to live with [the abuse] for the rest of their lives.”
The defense counsel argued the testimony was contradictory.
“They got up [on the stand] and told you about the most horrific things that have happened in their lives,” Collo said to the jury. “Why would they do that if they didn’t have to? For a game? For a lie? What’s in question here is belief. Each time the word guilty is used you’re telling those children you believe them.”
The jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges around 5 p.m. Thursday after approximately five hours of deliberations.
The Lancaster City Bureau of Police received two suspected child abuse referrals from the Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency on August 30, 2021, after the victim disclosed the abuse to a family member.
Subsequent interviews by the Lancaster County Children’s Alliance and investigation by the Lancaster city police revealed repeated abuse by the defendant when one victim was approximately 6 until they were 13 and the second victim was approximately 8 until they were 13.
President Judge Ashworth will order sentence at a later date.
