Dargan

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A sex trafficking victim testified Monday on the 2021 overdose death of 38-year-old Colleen Buck during the first day of Donald “The Rev” Dargan’s criminal jury trial.

Dargan, 62, is one of five men accused of forcing drug-addicted women to engage in prostitution for drugs and is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary servitude, trafficking individuals, corrupt organization and possession with intent to deliver. He is also charged with the overdose death of Buck, who was found dead at Dargan’s Altoona apartment on the 800 block of Sixth Avenue on Jan. 22, 2021.

During questioning by First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith, the victim said she knew Buck because she “was always around” and they had completed drug court together. While she wasn’t present for Buck’s death, she knew Buck had overdosed.

When asked by Smith if she knew about Buck’s situation, the woman said Buck had also been having sex in exchange for drugs.

She said Dargan told her after Buck’s death that Buck had overdosed in his bedroom, that he left for a while before returning, didn’t have any Narcan and “it was a while before an ambulance was called.”

Another sex trafficking victim testified to being in prison during Buck’s death, but detailed the overdose of a male friend while at Dargan’s residence. She said the male was “out of it,” with his eyes rolled back in his head, that he could barely walk but she managed to lead him down the street to get Narcan.

The woman said she believed the male would have died if not for her actions.

“(Dargan) didn’t care,” the woman said. “All he cared about was if cops would be called.”

A now-clean heroin user, the woman said she started cleaning Dargan’s house and car in exchange for drugs.

“There was a point in time … it had escalated to (Dargan) trying to have sex with me,” the woman said.

She told Smith she wouldn’t have had sex with Dargan if she hadn’t been desperate for drugs.

“It was all about the drugs,” the woman said. “I was in a very vulnerable state that ruined my life.”

Dargan, who is representing himself with attorney Christopher Jancula as standby counsel, asked the woman if they had ever been friends, to which she said yes. He then asked if she had reached out to the police, to which the woman said “they reached out to me.”

When questioned if she was under the influence during her talks with police, the woman, becoming emotional, told Dargan she had “always” been under the influence of drugs during that time period.

Dargan then played a video of an interview between the woman and Altoona police Sgt. Eric Heuston. During the video, the woman sat at the stand with her head down.

The woman then confirmed for Dargan that the interview was the only one police conducted with her and that she was under the influence of drugs at the time. She also noted she was “never promised anything” for the interview or her testimony.

“You did things to me that weren’t right,” the woman told Dargan. “You took advantage of my addiction.”

The first witness abruptly left the stand, citing her need to use the restroom, during intense cross examination by Dargan. Once she returned, Dargan apologized for “becoming loud.”

Often refusing to look at him during her testimony, the first witness denied being a confidential informant for the police when asked by Dargan. She said she tried to work with them to get her husband out of jail but never did.

Dargan then shifted his questioning to focus on an “explicit video” the woman had allegedly shown him, which the woman clarified was a video of herself twerking while fully clothed. The woman said that was something she did while high and had shown “half of Blair County” that video so he “wasn’t special.”

When Dargan asked the woman “what did you expect” showing a grown man that video, in reference to her previous testimony of waking up to him having nonconsensual sex with her, the woman scoffed.

On re-cross examination, Smith asked the woman if she had any ulterior motives for talking to police or providing her testimony, to which she said “no.”

“I was already going to state prison regardless,” the woman said. “It was a done deal.”

Testimony in Dargan’s trial continues today.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.