Explore More
A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of an attempted sexual assault involving one of his wife’s bridesmaids just two days before their wedding.
Daniel Carney was found guilty Thursday in Monroe County court on four charges over the unwanted sexual encounter during his wedding festivities in 2019.
The jury, made up of seven men and five women, delivered the verdicts after nine hours of deliberations, WNEP reported.
In addition to the attempted sexual assault charge, jurors also convicted him of aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and simple assault.
He was acquitted on a charge of attempted rape.
Carney’s attorney, Jim Swetz, told People magazine they were disappointed by the outcome of the trial and planned to file an appeal.
Prosecutors argued that Carney, 30, sexually assaulted the female member of his wedding party in the men’s locker room at the Shawnee Inn while she was too drunk to consent to a sexual encounter following a pre-wedding rafting trip.
Carney’s defense claimed the 29-year-old bridesmaid was conscious and knew what she was doing with Carney in the shower.
During the trial, Carney’s wife, Nicole Carney, testified in her husband’s defense, telling the court that when she busted him and her bridesmaid in the locker room shower, the woman was “conscious and aware.”
Carney said from the witness stand Wednesday that the bridesmaid instigated the sexual encounter and followed him into the locker room, where he had gone to take a shower, although prosecutors pointed out that he did not take any bathing items with him.
The bridesmaid said she came to during the encounter to find Carney biting her hand and grabbing her, according to a criminal complaint. She then blacked out again, and said she later woke up to discover Carney on top of her and her bikini bottom off.
When the bride noticed her groom and bridesmaid’s absence, she went looking for them and found the pair in the locker room shower, according to the complaint. She screamed at Daniel and ran to find her maid of honor.
The following morning, Carney called the bridesmaid to apologize, but she told him she felt extremely violated and upset, according to the complaint.
Then on the day of the wedding, Carney texted the bridesmaid to again say he was sorry, and begged her to take an emergency contraceptive pill, according to the document.
Police listened to a call between Carney and the victim, during which he denied they had sex, but admitted that his “d—k was out in the shower.”
“We never did do it, but would you consider taking Plan B to make damn certain just in case?” he allegedly told the woman, referring to a popular brand of the morning-after pill. “There is almost no chance, but still.”
When interviewed by the cops, Carney first claimed he was drunk and felt like he was taken advantage of by the victim, but later he admitted to grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into the locker room, police said.
After the wedding, the bridesmaid reported the incident to the police and went to the hospital to be examined by medics, who found 13 bruises all over her body, according to WFMZ.
Carney’s lawyer claimed the woman suffered the injuries by repeatedly falling into the water during the rafting trip, but prosecutors said that based on her medical evaluation, her condition was consistent with sexual assault.
Carney is out on $750,000 bond pending his sentencing on July 26.
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3N7j25mamtfma6vtcSlZJyZoqOyunnGrqClrKlivKd5wK2rnqWgqbavs4ytpmarla3CorjLsmSaq6OWwq3AjJupopyVqLqitcNo