SMETHPORT – A Roulette man petitioned the court to withdraw his
guilty plea Thursday in McKean County Court, proclaiming his
innocence to the charge of aggravated indecent assault he had
pleaded guilty to previously.

David Page, 46, had entered a plea in August just before his
trial began on charges of rape, sexual assault, unlawful restraint
and aggravated indecent assault.

The charges were from an incident in November of 2004 in Port
Allegany when he had sexual intercourse with a female without her
consent, according to court records.

On Thursday, Page’s attorney, Public Defender Ron Langella,
explained that under Pennsylvania law, a defendant is permitted to
withdraw his plea before sentencing “if he asserts a fair and just
reason to do so.”

“The fair and just reason he asserts is that he’s not guilty,”
Langella said, adding that Page maintains any sexual contact
between him and the “alleged victim was consensual.”

Langella said that he had advised his client that if he should
stand trial and lose, he could face substantial state prison time
because of a previous sexual offense in his file. However, Langella
said Page still wanted to stand trial.

Assistant District Attorney Christa Schott assured Langella that
she will seek the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
at trial.

“I ask that this case be listed for trial as soon as possible,”
she said. She explained that the victim’s family maintains contact
with Page, and that the victim has “incurred a lot of stress and
distress. The longer it goes on, the more difficult it is.”

Calling Page’s petition to withdraw his plea “another ploy to
harass … the victim,” Schott said she wants the trial scheduled as
soon as possible so the victim can “get the whole thing over
with.”

Schott added that Page keeps telling his attorney that the
victim doesn’t want to proceed with the case, but that is
completely wrong.

“She is going forward with this,” Schott said, adding that
Page’s alleged attempts to scare the victim have not scared her
away from continuing to prosecute her alleged attacker.

Before allowing the withdrawal, Judge John Yoder asked Page
several questions to make sure he understood the results of
withdrawing the plea.

“I am advising you it was the court’s intention to accept the
plea and to sentence you to within the (standard) range,” Yoder
said, explaining the sentence would have been 48 to 60 months in
jail.

“If you withdraw your plea, the agreement is withdrawn,” Yoder
said.

Page indicated he understood.

Yoder explained the sentence he may face if convicted could be a
minimum of 10 years.

“I just want to take it to jury trial,” Page said.

Yoder permitted the withdrawal and told the court administrator
to set aside one day, as soon as possible, for trial in the
case.