Hearing rescheduled for teen accused of assault



SHARON — A preliminary hearing for a Sharon teen charged with aggravated assault on a teacher was rescheduled to Friday from Wednesday.

Sharon police said Nicholas N. Sawyers, 18, of 733 S. Irvine Ave., punched Paul Torr in the face at about 11 a.m. Dec. 22 on the third floor of Sharon High School after Torr admonished the student for swearing in class.

Sawyers also bit Torr’s wrist and drew blood, police said.

Torr was treated at the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System for cuts and bruises to his face and forehead, police said.

A preliminary hearing is set for Friday afternoon before Senior District Judge Henry Russo, Sharon. Sawyers is free on his own recognizance.

Charges withdrawn when victim refuses to testify



SHARON — Charges against a Sharon man accused of repeatedly assaulting a woman over several days in mid-December were withdrawn Wednesday when the woman refused to testify.

Jerry L. Teague, 39, of 679 New Castle Ave., had been charged with aggravated assault and false imprisonment for allegedly beating a 20-year-old woman and not letting her leave his home.

The charges were withdrawn without prejudice, meaning police can refile them, at a preliminary hearing Wednesday before Senior District Judge Henry Russo, Sharon. The victim refused to testify against Teague, Assistant District Attorney Keith Bell said.

Teague was charged after police responded to a 911 hangup call Dec. 20 at his home.

They found a woman with bruising around her eyes and on her thigh, cuts to her scalp, puncture wounds to her back and shoulder and bruises and whip marks on her back, police said.

The woman told police that over several days Teague had choked her until she was unconscious, hit her in the head with a frying pan, broke a glass glove over her head, beat her with a milk crate and cut off her hair.

Farrell man pleads guilty to sex assualt on girl



SHARON — A 22-year-old Farrell man pleaded guilty to felony aggravated indecent assault for picking up his 13-year-old girlfriend and having sex with her in his car.

Charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors were dropped against Ryan Mapleton, 1504 Roemer Blvd., in exchange for his plea. He will also be registered as a sex offender for life, according to court documents.

Police said Mapleton sent a text message to the girl’s cell phone and told her to sneak out of her grandparents’ house where she was staying last Jan. 20. She met him at Musser Elementary School’s parking lot.

They drove around for a while and eventually had sex along an isolated road. He then gave her a cigarette, police said.

Mapleton admitted to police Jan. 31 that he had sex with the girl. The girl told police he did not force her or threaten her, and police said she referred to him as her “boyfriend.”

Mapleton’s father told police his son suffers from a mental disability that prevents him from understanding everything. He said his son saw the act as just sex with a girlfriend, not sex with an underage girl.

Police await autopsy on woman found dead



FREDONIA — A Delaware Township woman was found dead in her vehicle at about 6 a.m. Dec. 29 in a driveway on Grant Street, Fredonia.

No foul play is suspected in the death of Tammy B. McQuay, 51, police said. The cause is thought to be a combination of alcohol, drugs and carbon monoxide, police said.

The official cause is pending an autopsy expected to take four to six weeks, said Deputy Mercer County Coroner John Libonati.

The woman was not related to the homeowners whose driveway she died in, Libonati said.