Ex-coach slated for August trial on sex assault charges
Blazier to be tried by jury for child rape, related offenses
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The former Bellwood-Antis School District wrestling coach accused of sexually assaulting three children, including two student wrestlers on school property, is being scheduled for a jury trial at the end of August.
Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron heard testimony Thursday in support of permitting two of the alleged victims to testify from locations outside the courtroom where Ryan L.
Blazier is to be tried.
Blazier was charged in 2020 with child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, institutional sexual assault and related offenses.
The charges reflect alleged activity inside a small wrestling room at the middle school and in an Antis Township residence.
The option of allowing young sexual assault victims to testify in a room other than the courtroom has been used in other Blair County jury trials where the youth was deemed incapable of testifying in court.
The option rests with a judge, and if it's approved, video cameras are set up so the jurors can see the young witness sitting in another room answer questions being posed by prosecution and defense attorneys.
The grandmother of one of Blazier's alleged victims told Milliron on Thursday that her granddaughter is shy and will "clam up" if brought into court to testify.
"She wouldn't say a word," the grandmother predicted.
Trauma therapist Crystal Phillips of Blair Family Solutions said she thought it would be "difficult" for this girl, now 10 or 11 years old, to testify in court, based on the counseling sessions she has had with the girl since October 2019.
Licensed social worker Rachel Meek rendered the same conclusion about an alleged male victim who recently turned 15. If given the chance to testify outside court, that would be preferable, the social worker testified about the boy she has counseled for three years.
The boy's mother endorsed the same option, telling Milliron that her son will "be traumatized all over again" if he has to testify in court.
Defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey asked Milliron to closely review the legal standards permitting testimony from outside a courtroom, which should be used "only in the rarest of circumstances."
While cross-examining the testifying family members and counselors, Dickey asked about others with whom the youths have discussed their allegations.
When Dickey asked if those discussions included attorneys in the pursuit of civil lawsuits, First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith objected.
Smith pointed out that a jury trial has "an entirely different atmosphere" than an attorney's office. She also insisted that the question went beyond what needs to be considered in deciding if the youths can testify from outside the courtroom.
Dickey disagreed and proposed that a dangerous precedent was developing that would allow any parent to come in and "say this, this, this and this," so their child can testify from outside the courtroom and from outside the presence of the accused.
Milliron indicated that he was paying attention to the testimony of the counselors as well as the parents.
The judge also is expected to review a recording at the Center for Child Justice in Altoona, where the alleged female victim, then 8, said Blazier was "sexing" her.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Milliron spoke of trying to address pretrial matters as quickly as possible, so the likely five-day case is ready for trial starting Aug. 30.
In preparation, Milliron authorized Dickey's request for as much as $5,000 to secure an expert witness for the defense. The prosecution has already lined up an expert witness who will testify about the behaviors of sexual assault victims.
The judge also authorized up to $1,500 for the defense to hire an investigator for assistance with its case.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay
Stephens is at 814-946-7456.