Connellsville man charged after alleged groping of juvenile at Mount Pleasant festival
MOUNT PLEASANT, PA – A teenager’s night at the Glass Festival turned chaotic when an older man allegedly sat next to her on a swing, groped her and kissed her cheek, prompting friends to shove the suspect into nearby bushes and police to later charge a Connellsville man in the incident.
Mount Pleasant Borough Police, working with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, say the complaint came after a juvenile female reported that a 66-year-old man had groped and kissed her while she and friends were in the Sawdpipe Alley area during the borough’s Glass Festival in September. Witnesses who were at the scene pointed officers to Duane Butler, 66, and police arrested him after witnesses identified him as the man accused in the report.
According to investigators, the victim told police she was sitting on a swing when an older male sat beside her, touched her chest and kissed her cheek; her friends then pushed the suspect into nearby bushes. When questioned, Butler allegedly denied wrongdoing and told officers the victim’s friends were “jealous” because he was “talking to the little girl,” police said.
The arrest and charges were filed following the investigation by Mount Pleasant Borough Police in cooperation with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. No further charge details were released in the public summary.