KEY POINTS
- The groom faces up to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of an attempted sexual assault involving one of his wife’s bridesmaids
- The man claimed that the bridesmaid came onto him as he was about to take a shower
- Medical personnel said the bridesmaid’s condition was consistent with sexual assault, according to prosecutors
A 30-year-old man in Pennsylvania was found guilty of attempting to sexually assault one of his wife’s bridesmaids just two days before their wedding.
Daniel Carney was found guilty Thursday by a Monroe County, Pennsylvania, jury on four charges over the unwanted sexual encounter during a pre-wedding celebration in 2019. The jury, made up of seven men and five women, delivered the verdicts after nine hours of deliberations, WNEP reported.
Carney was convicted of four out of the five charges he was facing: attempted sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault without consent, simple assault and indecent assault without the consent of others.
He was acquitted on a charge of attempted rape.
“We were disappointed by the verdict and will be pursuing an appeal,” Carney’s attorney, Jim Swetz, said in a statement to People.
Carney allegedly forced himself on the then-29-year-old bridesmaid on Aug. 30, 2019, following a pre-wedding celebration that involved drinking and tubing on the Delaware River.
Carney initially told police that he did nothing wrong and that he “felt like he was taken advantage of by the victim,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
However, he later admitted that he grabbed the victim by the arm and pulled her into the men’s locker room at the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort in Shawnee on Delaware, where the alleged assault occurred.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage that they said corroborates aspects of the victim’s account, WFMZ reported.
The victim was too drunk to consent at the time, prosecutors alleged.
Carney claimed Wednesday that the bridesmaid instigated the sexual encounter and followed him into the locker room, where he had gone to take a shower. Prosecutors pointed out that he did not take any bathing items with him at the time.
Carney’s wife, Nicole Carney, also told the court during the trial that when she found him and her bridesmaid in the locker room shower, the woman was “conscious and aware.”
The bridesmaid said she came to during the encounter to find Carney biting her hand and grabbing her, according to a criminal complaint. She said she then blacked out again and later woke up to discover Carney on top of her.
The bridesmaid later reported the incident to police and went to the hospital to be examined. She was found to have 13 bruises all over her body, according to WFMZ.
Carney’s lawyer claimed the woman sustained the injuries by repeatedly falling into the water during the rafting trip.
However, medical personnel said the bridesmaid’s condition was consistent with sexual assault, according to prosecutors.
Carney is now in sheriff’s custody. He is set to be sentenced in late July.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender following his sentencing.
“She’s overwhelmed with emotion and I think she’s pleased with the verdict as well,” Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Christy Schlottman said of the bridesmaid. “She and Detective Leary are happy about justice.”
