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.
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A young Pennsylvania woman charged with driving under the influence in May 2018 did not have money to pay a new lawyer, so she turned to the man who had helped her out of a scrape in the past - her family s child custody attorney, Chad Salsman, who was also running for district attorney.
She told Salsman she did not have money to pay him because she had been out of work for six months. Salsman allegedly told her the situation was dire - she might face jail time - but he could still represent her in exchange for sex, according to state prosecutors. If he won his race to become top prosecutor in Bradford County, he allegedly told her, he could make her DUI charge go away.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced at a Wednesday news conference at the Bradford County Courthouse in Towanda that Salsman faces multiple counts of sexual assault, indecent assault, intimidation of a witness or victim, obstruction of justice and prostitution.
The charges follow a lengthy investigation by Pennsylvania State Police and a state-empaneled grand jury, and stem from allegations made by five women who were clients of Salsman when he was an attorney in private practice.
Salsman did not enter a plea at his initial arraignment Wednesday in Magisterial District Court in Towanda, and was released after bail was set at $500,000 and he posted a 10% surety bond of $50,000.
Elmira Star-Gazette
Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman, who was elected as a Republican in 2019, has been charged with numerous counts of sexual assault, indecent assault, witness intimidation and other counts following a lengthy investigation by Pennsylvania State Police.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges during a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the Bradford County Courthouse in Towanda.
State police started the investigation following a tip from Salsman s predecessor Daniel Barrett, a fellow Republican who retired in 2019.
Shapiro brought the charges after a state grand jury heard testimony from several witnesses.
The allegations of assault and other crimes stem from Salsman s interaction with several female clients when he was in private practice, Shapiro said.
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
Josh Shapiro announced February 3 that D.A. Chad Salsman is accused of intimidating women and forcing female clients to have sex with him before he was elected District Attorney while he was practicing law and a public defender in Towanda.
Shapiro revealed that the investigation by Pennsylvania State Police into alleged crimes by Salsman began as a result of a tip from fellow Republican former Bradford County District Attorney, Daniel Barrett, who retired in 2019.
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Close to a half-dozen women have come forward to claim Salsman intimidated them and pressured them to have sex with him, some in lieu of being charged legal fees in criminal cases or custody disputes, while he was a defense attorney.