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EXETER TWP. — A Pittston man facing a trial on charges he assaulted a woman twice last year was arraigned Tuesday on allegations he raped her.

State police allege DNA recovered from the woman after the assault matched the DNA profile of Austin Garrity, 23, of Gidding Street.

Garrity was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Carmody in Luzerne County Central Court on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and criminal mischief. He was released on $15,000 unsecured bail.

Court records say Garrity was free after posting $10,000 total bail on Feb. 1 on separate simple assault cases filed by Pittston police in 2018.

In those cases, Pittston police charged Garrity on May 3, 2018, when he became enraged when the woman refused to buy him cigarettes. When she left with an infant, Garrity smashed a glass door with broken glass striking the child, court records say.

Garrity was charged by Pittston police on Aug. 7 when he smashed a window on a vehicle occupied by the woman.

His trial on the separate cases is scheduled for Sept. 16 before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr.

According to the criminal complaint charging Garrity with the latest offense:

A woman told state police Garrity accompanied her when she took her children to an Easter egg hunt in Exeter Township on April 13.

Garrity made a scene by yelling at the woman because she was using her cellphone.

She claimed Garrity smashed her phone inside her vehicle and dropped the children off at a relatives. He drove the woman to her apartment where she claimed he raped her, the complaint says.

She was examined at a hospital where evidence was recovered.

State police served a search warrant on Garrity at his place of employment for a saliva sample on June 13.

Garrity’s DNA profile matched the DNA evidence recovered from the woman, the complaint says.

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By Ed Lewis

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