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Pa. guardsman acquitted in sex assault trial

LEBANON, Pa. — A former Pennsylvania Army National Guard recruiter was acquitted of charges that he assaulted a woman he had helped enlist.

A Lebanon County jury delivered the verdict Friday after a two-day trial. Christopher A. Scott, 38, had faced an assault charge and three other counts in connection with the alleged 2006 attack in his Fort Indiantown Gap office.

In his testimony, Scott maintained his innocence, and no witness corroborated the victim’s allegations, Scott’s lawyer Bob Keys said Tuesday.

The victim testified that Scott assaulted her, but Keys said he provided a witness who told the jury that she saw nothing improper happen between the pair.

Lebanon County District Attorney David J. Arnold Jr. declined comment Tuesday. Before the trial, prosecutors dropped a rape charge against Scott.

Scott joined the Guard in 2005. He was honorably discharged last year, Keys said.

Scott was charged in November 2007. At the time, he was a sergeant in the guard’s recruiting and retention battalion and had helped the woman enlist in February 2006.

The attack allegedly happened in December 2006, when the woman and her boyfriend came to Scott’s office after Scott asked for help with recruiting duties. Authorities alleged that Scott sent the boyfriend home to retrieve a document and assaulted the woman.

The woman complained to military officials after she returned to Texas, and they referred the matter to Lebanon County investigators.