Clarion Man Found Guilty of Raping Young Girl

Scott Shindledecker

Scott Shindledecker

Published October 26, 2017 2:35 am
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CLARION BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – A Clarion man has been found guilty of raping a young girl at a borough residence nearly two years ago.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for nearly three hours Wednesday before finding 70-year-old Bassam Kamel Yakteen, of Clarion, guilty of various charges, including child rape, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault of a child less than 13 years of age, sexual assault, terroristic threats, as well as conspiracy.

Yakteen was found guilty of a total of 41 counts that includes 40 felonies.

President Judge James Arner ruled that Yakteen’s case must be heard by the Sexual Offender’s Assessment Board before he is sentenced. A date has not yet been set.

Yakteen will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Drew Welsh was pleased with the verdict.

bassam-yakteen“It’s always good when justice is served,” Welsh said. “You never know what to expect when a jury begins its deliberations. But, to me, the most important thing was that two people were both telling stories that matched.”

“The other important factor was the testimony of Stephanie Andreas. People usually don’t say things that will get them in more trouble,” Welsh said.

Welsh was referring to Andreas’ sentencing next week after she pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of child rape, as well as one count of corruption of minors and one count of child endangerment in relation to this case.

Andreas will be sentenced at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 1.

stephanie-andreasClarion Borough Chief of Police William Peck IV, who arrested both Yakteen and Andreas for their crimes, was very happy with the jury’s decision.

“In 25 years of law enforcement, this is one of the toughest cases I’ve ever dealt with, so it’s a great feeling when you can take a person who preys on our children and stop them from doing it again.”

“And, I’ll be back here at sentencing to testify to make sure he gets the stiffest possible sentence,” Chief Peck said. “We are here too many times for these kinds of crimes. I’m hoping this sends a message to everyone.”

Yakteen claimed he had no sexual relations with the victim, and he even went so far as to say that he avoided being with (the victim) for fear of being accused of doing something to (her).

It was clearly an argument the jury didn’t believe.

Jurors had to sift through testimony from Yakteen; the 12-year-old female victim; 37-year-old Stephanie Andreas; and Chief Peck.

Andreas, currently serving time in state prison on a robbery conviction after she conspired with others to have Yakteen robbed, gave tearful testimony about the circumstances surrounding the abuse of (the victim), primarily that she didn’t report them when she learned about them.

Yakteen testified on his own behalf; he was the only person to speak for the defense.

Yakteen’s counsel, veteran attorney Robbie Taylor, worked to create doubt in the jurors’ minds regarding the time of when the crimes occurred.

Even Taylor became a little confused about the dates of the offenses as he offered his closing statement.

ADA Welsh relied only on testimony since there was no physical evidence due to the crimes not being reported to officials until several months after the fact, and there were other people living at the residence.

From the testimony presented, a strange and sad picture emerged of Yakteen, a lonely, but disturbed, old man who had come to the United States from Lebanon several decades ago and settled in the country.

He eventually made his way to Clarion where he befriended Andreas.

According to testimony, Andreas and three children (including the victim) were living in an apartment at the corner of Fifth and Pine Streets when the assaults occurred. She was living on government assistance, spending time with young men and teenage boys and doing drugs.

Welsh’s case centered on the words of the victim and Andreas.

According to the victim, she knew Sam — as he was referred to by the family — as a man who gave (Andreas) money to help pay bills, bought (Andreas) cigarettes, and brought food to the family.

While she was unclear about when the sexual assaults occurred, she did identify Yakteen as the man who sexually assaulted her in a bedroom while Andreas and two children watched TV in the living room.

“He would want to talk to me, and we would go into (the bedroom), and that’s where he sexually assaulted me,” the victim said. “I told (Andreas) what he had done after the first time, and she said she didn’t care.”

“I told (Andreas), you are supposed to protect me,” the victim said as she became somewhat emotional.

Taylor’s questioning of the victim centered on her memory of when the events happened and the character of her mother.

He elicited testimony from the 12-year-old girl that she didn’t remember when she was interviewed at Western PA Cares for Kids in Brookville and that (Andreas) had sex with other men or teenage boys in the same bedroom she shared with her and another juvenile female.

When Taylor questioned the victim concerning the time period of the assaults, she said that they occurred during the summer, not the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016 as authorities said.

When Taylor questioned Andreas about the assaults, she said she had witnessed them two or three times.

Taylor’s argument was that Andreas couldn’t have seen them because if they occurred in the summer of 2016, she was already in jail on robbery and assault charges as of March 24, 2016.

When Welsh questioned Andreas, she admitted to making sure…(the) kids were in the living room when the assaults took place and to a deal about “keeping her mouth shut if he brought (them) food.”

Welsh’s closing argument posed a series of questions for jury members to consider in their deliberations.

He asked why would Yakteen write letters to the District Attorney’s office and speak with police asking for Andreas to be released, so she could be with her kids.

“Was it to keep her (Stephanie) mouth shut? Every day she is in jail is a day she could talk about what happened,” Welsh said. “He also has access to the victim if Stephanie is out of jail. He said his hope was to have Stephanie out of jail, and then they could be married.”

“But, he was around that residence, he knew what was going on there, he knew she wasn’t a good mother,” Welsh said.

The rapes came to light in November of 2016 when the female victim was living with relatives near Philadelphia, and Clarion County Children and Youth Services received a report about the assaults.

After arranging an interview with the victim in December at Cares for Kids in Brookville, Chief Peck watched the questioning in another room on closed-circuit TV.

Chief Peck testified that he had been to the Andreas residence on more than one occasion and had several interactions with Andreas and Yakteen.

He said there was evidence that Yakteen was aggressive toward the children, but there was no evidence of sexual abuse.

When Welsh questioned Chief Peck if he would have removed the children from the residence, he said he wished he could have.

“It was not a happy home. When we went there, you could see the victim sitting on the couch, playing with her phone,” Chief Peck said. “It wasn’t to the point where I could have just taken them out, but the mattresses were on the floors, and there were no toys for the kids to play with.”

“I felt terrible about it, but there are guidelines we must follow.”

According to Tracy Park, the Victim/Witness Coordinator for the Clarion County District Attorney’s office, the children are now in safe environments.

“This, like all these cases, is very difficult for the children to endure, but we’re happy the kids are safe and in better places.”

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