Jury Deadlocked on Rape Charge, Judge Rules Mistrial

A Philadelphia man a 14-year-old Warminster girl in a storage room at Bucks Landing Apartments has been found guilty of aggravated indecent assault, but the jury could not come to an agreement over the rape charge and forced Bucks County Judge Clyde Waite to declare a partial mistrial, phillyburbs.com reports.

Deputy District Attorney Nathaniel Spang told phillyburbs.com that he will wait and see what the family of the victim wants to do before a decision is made about retrying Lee for the rape. Lee can face up to five years in prison for being found guilty of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor and indecent assault.

The teenage victim testified last week that she encountered Lee on Feb. 3, 2011 outside the Warminster Walmart and walked to the Bucks Landing Apartments with him. He led her to what he said was his cousin's apartment, but opened the door to a storage closet, pushed her in and raped her, she told the jury.

Lee testified that the girl initiated the sexual contact and that she accused him of rape because he would not share his phone number. The lack of forensic evidence, pointed out by Lee's defense attorney, Keith McAndrews, factored into the jury deadlock.