Click here to subscribe today or Login.
John Campas of Wilkes-Barre had been found guilty more than a year ago.
WILKES-BARRE – A city man sentenced last month to 17 to 34 years in state prison on charges he sexually assaulted a young girl over a two-year period said in court papers filed this week he should be given a new trial or charges against him should be thrown out.
John Campas, 30, of Oak Street, who was sentenced on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault of a person younger than 13, corruption of minors, indecent assault and endangering the welfare of children, as well as two unrelated counts of criminal trespassing and simple assault, made the request in court papers filed by his attorney, Demetrius Fannick.
Campas was found guilty of the sexual assault-related charges at a trial in February 2010 and pleaded guilty to the two unrelated charges at the time of his sentencing.
Campas, who was found not guilty of the more serious charges, including rape of a child, said he should be given a new trial because evidence presented by prosecutors was “unreliable and contradictory” and that the verdict was based on speculation.
“The evidence supporting the verdict was so weak and inconclusive that a jury of reasonable persons would not have been satisfied as to the defendant’s guilt,” court papers say.
As a result, Campas said through his attorney, charges should be dismissed.
If charges are not dismissed, court papers say, Campas requested a modification to his sentence that he not be deemed a sexually violent predator, as he was at the time of his sentencing.
Campas said his lengthy prison sentence should also be shortened because “said sentence was manifestly excessive in violation of the defendant’s rights under the United States Constitution…”
Luzerne County Judge David Lupas, who sentenced Campas, said he will give Campas an additional 30 days to file any other court papers and requests before making a decision.
At the time of his sentencing, Campas said he maintained his innocence in regards to assaulting the girl, who was 5 at the time. Campas said he does not have an explanation as to what happened other than that the girl’s family was seeking “justice and revenge” and that prosecutors had nothing to “corroborate what happened in this case.”
Campas was charged in September 2008 after, police said, he sexually assaulted the girl from January 2006 to September 2008.
The girl testified at the February 2010 trial that Campas would touch her private areas and used an anatomically correct doll to demonstrate the acts.