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Western PA DA Sentenced Up To 5 Years In Prison After Pleading Guilty To Assaulting Women

A Former Bradford County District Attorney has been sentenced for up to five years in prison for sexually assault women, according to Pennsylvania's State Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Former Bradford County District Attorney, Chad Salsman.

Former Bradford County District Attorney, Chad Salsman.

Photo Credit: Pennsylvania Attorney General's office

Chad Salsman, 45, of Wyalusing, was sentenced on Friday to serve between 1.5 to 5 years in prison, followed by 72 months of state supervision.

Salsman is a Republican, who was elected district attorney in Nov. 2019 and was serving in the role at the time of his arrest.

Salsman was arrested in February on 24 counts relating to the assaults of his clients and was held in the Bradford County Prison in lieu of $500,000.

At first he vehemently denied all charges-- emailing a statement to media saying all charges were “vicious lies” and pledging to vigorously defend himself against what he called false allegations, the email was sent from his government account.

The victims were his female clients in criminal and child custody cases.

During the grand jury trail the women said he groped them, sought nude photos and pressured or forced them into sexual acts sometimes on his office desk, according to KDKA.

Salsman pleaded guilty in May, but most of the sexual assault charges and several other counts were dropped as part of a guilty plea agreement, which has not fully been made public.

“Chad Salsman coerced vulnerable Pennsylvanians because he thought his victims would be easy to silence and less likely to be believed if they ever came forward. Instead, they spoke out and we listened. Now, he has been taken out of his position of authority where he can no longer hurt women, and will spend time in prison for his repeated abuses of power,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Albert Ondrey was appointed by a Judge to temporarily fill the role of Bradford County’s District Attorney in May.

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