After waiving his preliminary hearing yesterday, Gary Brian Patterson is headed to trial on charges he sexually assaulted a female on-campus in April, but his attorney said there's not enough evidence to convict the former Penn State Beaver student.
Patterson was charged last Wednesday with the April 5 sexual assault of a woman in Redifer Commons, according to court documents. Patterson's attorney, Brad Hamric, said his client, who admitted to police he had sex with the woman, did not commit sexual assault.
"Our defense at this point is that there was no real evidence that it was an illegal act," he said. "Pretty much that there was an issue of consent."
Patterson's charges -- involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure and criminal conspiracy -- were all upheld until his pretrial conference on Sept. 18, said Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall, who is prosecuting the case.
"The District Attorney and I and the officers reviewed everything and had some discussion, and we feel that this is better worked out in the future," Hamric said.
As he waited for his case to be considered yesterday, Patterson sat solemnly beside his parents in Courtroom 1 of the Centre County Courthouse for two hours. Patterson, of Carnegie, hasn't returned to University Park since the April visit from which his sexual assault charges stem, Hamric said.
Marshall said he and Hamric have talked about the possibility of a plea agreement in Patterson's case, but it was too early to reveal the conditions discussed.
Patterson was released on $100,000 supervised bail since his July 10 arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Carmine Prestia, according to court documents.
Marshall said sexual assault defendants are often released on supervised bail, an issue he doesn't necessarily agree with.
"You see people charged with a lot less on much higher bail," he said, adding because the practice is so common, "I don't even know who to direct my complaint to."
A Penn State Police officer found the alleged victim wearing nothing but a shirt in a Redifer computer lab with a .32 blood-alcohol content the morning of April 5, according to court documents. Semen found on the victim's shirt was sent away for DNA analysis.
In surveillance video taken from the hallway in Redifer Commons, Patterson and an unidentified juvenile can be seen walking with the victim and holding her up against a wall, according to court documents. Police said the juvenile has been charged, but because of his age, the records are sealed.
The video also shows Patterson exposing himself to the victim and putting her hand on his penis before walking off camera, according to court documents.
After Penn State Police posted surveillance photos of him in Redifer Commons seeking suspects in an "assault on a female," Patterson told Penn State Beaver Police his side of the story, according to court documents.
In his written statement to police, Patterson admitted both he and the other man had sex with the victim, whom he saw walking in downtown State College and thought was attractive, according to court documents.
