HOLLIDAYSBURG — A former Altoona assistant fire chief was acquitted Thursday of 14 sexual assault charges based on the accusations of a former girlfriend’s daughter.

As the jury fore­person finished reading the unanimous “not guilty” verdicts in a Blair County courtroom, defendant Mathew E. Detrich, 52, clasped his hands and looked upward in a display of gratitude and relief.

“And we’re relieved for him,” defense attorney Michael Zagari said outside the courtroom where Zagari asked the jury during his closing argument to reject the alleged victim’s claims. “Our defense from the beginning was that he didn’t do this.”

As the jury foreperson repeatedly announced “not guilty” on each count of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors, the alleged victim, now 23 years old, started crying and put her face against her sister’s shoulder.

“It was a tough case,” Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky said outside court. “There were a lot of brave witnesses who came forward, but we always respect the jury’s verdict and will do so in this case.”

Altoona police charged Detrich in July 2021 based on the alleged victim’s claims reported to police by her mother who dated Detrich for several years.

The alleged victim said she came to realize, during a college psychology course, that when she was a minor, she had been a victim of “grooming” behavior by Detrich.

She told the jury that during a backyard sleepover in 2014 — when she was 14 or 15 years old — the then 43-year-old Detrich put his fingers inside her body. In the subsequent weeks, the woman said she and Detrich engaged in oral sex which led to sexual intercourse over a period of several months.

Detrich, who took the witness stand in his own defense, denied the woman’s allegations and told the jury it never happened.

To back up his position, Dietrich testified about his longtime incontinence condition and how it affects his sexual activities.

Two former girlfriends, including one who traveled from Florida, offered testimony about his condition and how it affected their sexual interactions.

Elensky tried to counter that testimony by getting Detrich to admit that he remains able to engage in sexual activity despite the incontinence.

The alleged victim, however, offered no testimony about Detrich’s incontinence or how it affected the sexual interactions she reported to have engaged in with Detrich.

Zagari told the jury in his closing that the entire case was built off the allegations of one person and witnesses who were handcuffed to her lie. The alleged victim’s boyfriend, college roommate, sister and mother were among those testifying about her disclosures to them.

Zagari and fellow defense attorneys, Thomas N. Farrell and Lisle Weaver, also challenged the alleged victim’s statements by questioning the time frames she provided.

In a statement to Altoona police, testimony indicated that the alleged victim made a correction to indicate that the backyard sleepover at Detrich’s residence occurred in 2014 instead of 2015.

Zagari pointed out that if 2015 had remained intact, she would have been 16 years old and his client wouldn’t be facing criminal charges.

“The only thing changed on that statement was something that took this from not-a-crime to a crime,” Zagari said.

Detrich also testified that he knew the sleepover occurred in 2015. He said he set up the tent in the backyard for the sleepover, after returning from a family vacation to North Carolina, as reflected on by a 2015 receipt from that vacation.

Farrell said he thought the totality of the case, including the testimony of four character witnesses, factored into the jury’s ability to render verdicts in less than an hour.

“There were multiple people who wanted to come into court and support our client,” Farrell said. “We had to turn people away.”

Elensky reminded the jury in his closing argument that those character witnesses were familiar with Detrich based on his profession, and not what happened between him and his former girlfriend’s daughter.

“We’re not here to decide if he’s a good firefighter,” Elensky told the jury.

Detrich, who the city initially placed on administrative leave after the charges were filed, subsequently retired.

Weaver also praised Detrich as a witness, describing his testimony as honest, emotional and direct.

“He had nothing to hide,” Weaver said.

Despite the acquittal verdicts, Elensky said his office remains committed to prosecuting sexual assault cases and representing victims of sexual assault.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.