Metro

An inmate at SCI Pine Grove is facing new charges that include felony rape of a child after a juvenile female reported him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was about 6 years old.

Devine Stephen-Andre Edwards, 31, is scheduled for arraignment today at 2:30 p.m. by Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio on felony charges of rape of child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age, statutory sexual assault – 11 years older, unlawful contact with a minor – sexual offenses, sexual assault, indecent assault person less than 13 years of age, corruption of minors – defendant age 18 or above and three misdemeanor counts of indecent assault.

The new charges stem from the victim’s mother contacting Altoona police on March 30, 2025, to report that her 9-year-old daughter had told her she was sexually assaulted by Edwards about two or three years ago, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The victim was interviewed on May 20 at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Johnstown and said she was 6 or 7 years old when she, her mother, three brothers and Edwards were living in an attic apartment in Altoona.

She told the interviewer that late one night, while everyone was asleep, she awoke to Edwards rubbing her leg. She said Edwards asked her if she wanted to play a game in which she would be blindfolded, taste different foods and guess what they were. Edwards then walked the victim out of the attic to the stairs before blindfolding her, the police report states.

The victim said after Edwards had her taste foods like salsa and hot sauce, he placed another object in her mouth that was “squishy” and “bigger than a finger.” She told the interviewer when she began to choke, she tried to pull away but Edwards pushed her head back down. After a few moments, the victim was able to get away from Edwards and ran to the bathroom, where she threw up. The victim said when she removed her blindfold, she believed she saw Edwards pulling up his pants, the report states.

The victim said she delayed reporting the incident because she was afraid of Edwards and feared he would hurt her mother. The victim told the interviewer that she saw Edwards point a black pistol at her mother during a previous argument and believed he would kill her mother if she reported the assault, the report states.

In a separate interview on July 8, the victim’s mother said she was frequently physically abused and assaulted by Edwards and that he had pointed a firearm at her on three separate occasions. She described one incident, when they were living in Johnstown, where Edwards pointed a gun at her in front of her children and said he would shoot her, her kids and then himself if she planned to leave him. Further details given by the victim’s mother corroborated the victim’s accounts of the incidents, according to the affidavit.

Officers then traveled to SCI Pine Grove on Oct. 30 to interview Edwards. He told officers the report was false and that it would have originated from the victim’s mother or father. Edwards said he didn’t know what the victim’s mother’s “angle” was on reporting the assault and appeared surprised when informed the victim had reported it herself. Edwards also denied the other allegations of abuse and became upset while calling the victim’s mother a liar, the report states.

Edwards is serving a sentence of up to 72 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in March 2023 to one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a Johnstown shooting.