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‘It happened’: Woman testifies that former Philly police officer assaulted her as a teenager

Former Officer Charles Young's attorney, however, described him as a "hero," and said the woman's story of abuse between 2004 and 2008 is entirely fabricated.

The alleged victim said she was sexually assaulted for years, including in the back of a Philadelphia police van. The former officer's attorney said none of it happened.
The alleged victim said she was sexually assaulted for years, including in the back of a Philadelphia police van. The former officer's attorney said none of it happened.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Former Philadelphia Police Officer Charles Young is “a hero” who dutifully patrolled city streets for two decades — or a depraved criminal who convinced a vulnerable North Philly girl to have sex with him hundreds of times beginning when she was in the seventh or eighth grade.

Those were the starkly divergent portrayals of Young that emerged this week during his trial in Commons Pleas Court on felony sexual assault charges stemming from abuse that allegedly occurred between 2004 and 2008.

Prosecutors say that Young, now 52, abused the girl, starting when she was 14, by exploiting her troubled home life and earning her trust, occasionally giving her money so she could buy food or get her hair braided.

“This is about what happens in the shadows,” Assistant District Attorney Brett Zakeosian said during the opening statement on Tuesday, alleging that Young “continuously and regularly” had sex with the girl over that time.

The complainant, now 33, told the jury that her mother was addicted to drinking and gambling and was often absent from their home. She said Young would help her with money and intervene when she got into fights in the neighborhood.

“He wanted me to trust him,” she said. “He gave me his number and told me to call him.”

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Police Officer charged with sexually assaulting 8th grader

The woman said Young persuaded her to let him have intercourse with her in his car and in the back of a police van parked under a bridge. She said it continued until she was 18 years old. (The Inquirer does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes without their permission.)

“I thought he cared about me,” she testified.

It was not until 2020 that she filed a report with Internal Affairs. She said she came forward because a relative had told her about that time that he’d been sexually abused.

Young, a member of the Police Department for 21 years, retired in February 2021, shortly before he was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related offenses. The department made no announcement about his arrest at the time, but The Inquirer reported the charges the following week.

Young’s lawyer, Shaka Johnson, told the jury that the allegations are “nasty, vile, sick” — and, he contends, entirely fabricated.

“You’re not going to find a single person saying they saw this man touching this girl,” Johnson said, noting that there was no corroborating evidence or other victims.

As for the woman’s motive for making the allegations against Young, Johnson said: “I don’t know why. It is not his cross to bear.”

Young appeared upbeat in court on Wednesday, smiling and joking with Johnson and relatives during breaks in the proceedings. It was unclear whether he would take the stand in his own defense.

During cross examination on Wednesday, Johnson sought to attack the woman’s credibility, noting that she gave inconsistent statements to police in Montgomery County following an unrelated criminal incident in 2021.

Johnson alluded to relatively minor inconsistencies between the woman’s court testimony and what she previously told Internal Affairs investigators. She said she was unsure of some details — such as whether Young ever assaulted her while on duty — but when it came to the sexual assault allegations, she did not waver.

“It happened,” she said.

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