District Attorney Charged in Sexual Assaults on Former Clients
Chad Salsman, the elected prosecutor of Bradford County, Pa., was accused of preying on female clients who were in vulnerable legal or personal situations while he was their defense lawyer.
Chad Salsman, the district attorney of Bradford County, Pa., being escorted into court in Towanda, Pa., on Wednesday.Credit.Brianne Ostrander/The Daily Review, via Associated Press
Feb. 7, 2021
The women were targeted because they needed help with child custody cases or criminal charges, prosecutors said. Some had struggled with drug use or were survivors of sexual abuse.
But once Chad M. Salsman had guided the women into his private law office, ostensibly to discuss their cases, he forced them onto his desk and sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said. He then told the women not to tell anyone what had happened.
A Pennsylvania district attorney vowed Friday to remain in office while he fights sexual assault charges, maintaining his innocence and complaining that he was handcuffed and “paraded in front of television cameras” by the state attorney general.
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Sputnik International
There were also “many other women (who) were placed in the same position, (but) those events occurred outside the statute of limitations,” and their cases could not be included for criminal charges, authorities said. During a news conference announcing the charges, Shapiro said, The details of these assaults are incredibly disturbing, and they are criminal. We know that they strike even deeper because Mr. Salsman abused his position of authority as a lawyer, and as a public official here in this county. The victims in this case were relying on him to be their advocate, to represent them at a time when they felt powerless. Instead, they ended up being preyed upon.”