Crime & Safety

News Nearby: 15-Year-Old Testifies in Statutory Sexual Assault Case Against Man She Met on Facebook

Paul Wolverton, 19, of Treesdale, faces multiple charges.

A 15-year-old girl testified on Wednesday that she had sex with a 19-year-old Gibsonia man she met on Facebook after he picked her up from school and took her to his parents' Treesdale home.

Paul Robert Wolverton pleaded not guilty at his preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge William K. Wagner. He is charged with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, corruption of a minor, criminal use of a communication facility and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Wagner ordered him to stand trial in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. His formal arraignment is set for June 25.

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Wagner also ordered Wolverton not to have contact with the 15-year-old.

The girl's name is not reported because she is a minor and Patch does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.

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Wolverton was charged in late March after the 15-year-old girl told her mother that she and Wolverton engaged in sex, according to a criminal complaint filed by .

The girl testified that she met Wolverton on Facebook over the summer and eventually gave him her phone number.

Answering questions from Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Arnette, the soft-spoken girl said Wolverton asked her to "hang out," but they never did.

When Arnette asked the girl how she interpreted "hanging out," the girl replied that she did not know.

The girl also testified that Wolverton asked her to send him nude photos on the day before they met, but she texted him photos in her bra and underwear instead.

They decided to meet the next day when she got out of school early, the girl testified.

Through texting each other, she said, Wolverton let her know that he was in the parking lot. Although they had never met previously, she testified that she recognized him and got in his car.

"He picked me up from school and we went back to his house," she said. 

They went to Wolverton's bedroom, where they had sex, she said, adding they were at his house about 25 minutes.

"After we were done, we got dressed and he took me back to school," she testified. The bell rang as she got there and she got on the bus to go home, the girl said.

When questioned by defense attorney Gary Gerson, the girl testified that Wolverton knew her age.

She also said they talked on a Monday night about "hooking up" on Tuesday.

The girl testified that she was not sure exactly what they would do, but they had discussed intimacy.

Asked if she agreed to the intimacy, she said yes. She also testified that she was not forced or threatened.

The liaison was reported to police after the girl's mother found out about it, the girl said.

The girl testified her mother confronted her after a relative went through the messages on her phone and told her mother what she found.


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