Man sentenced in sex assault

February 04, 2009

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Philadelphia man who the Waynesboro Police Department said had sexual intercourse with a woman after drugging her has been sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in Franklin County Jail.

Kerien Abdul Smith, 29, had pleaded no contest in October to charges of delivery of a controlled substance and indecent assault on an unconscious person. In addition to the jail time, Judge Richard Walsh gave Smith an additional three years on probation.

The incident occurred at a residence on Pratt Court on May 11, 2007, according to the affidavit of probable cause. The woman said she had asked Smith if he had an over-the-counter pain reliever, but that the pill she took made her light-headed and she fell asleep, police said.

The woman awoke on a couch to find she was wearing a different pair of pants and no underwear, police said. She found her pants and underwear in the bathroom, police said.

The woman went to the emergency room of Waynesboro Hospital and police were contacted, the affidavit stated. When police investigated, they found a prescription sleeping pill on the living room floor.

Smith also was originally charged with rape of an impaired person, recklessly endangering another person, aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with an impaired person and unauthorized administration of an intoxicant.

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Sulcove told Walsh the victim had been consulted on the plea agreement and proposed sentence. Sulcove later said there would have been evidentiary issues in trying to prove the rape and other felony charges at trial.

Smith also received another six months on probation for a July drunken driving arrest and was resentenced on a 2007 bad checks conviction, for which he received a jail sentence concurrent to the delivery and indecent assault charges.

- Don Aines

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