3 women testify about being inappropriately touched as minors
Three women testified Monday, March 17, before a Common Pleas Court jury that a man inappropriately touched them multiple times between 2017 and 2022 when they were minors.
The testimony came on the first day of the trial of Shawn D. Berkstresser, 54, of Boyers, who is facing a felony count of indecent assault of a person under 13, two counts of corruption of minors and two counts of endangering the welfare of children, and four misdemeanor counts of indecent assault. State police filed the charges in November 2022.
That case is being tried with a second case in which he is charged with a misdemeanor count of indecent assault and summary harassment stemming from a 2021 incident in Cherry Township. State police file those charges in February 2023.
In the first case, the women, who are now 25, 22 and 20, said they were 18, 15 and 12, respectively, when Berkstresser began touching them.
“Shawn was sexually molesting us,” one of the women testified.
They said the touching took place frequently, describing the incidence as daily or every other day, multiple times a week, and daily or weekly. They said he touched their breasts, vaginas and buttocks.
The women said Berkstresser would sometimes ask them if what he was doing bothered them. They said they told him it didn’t bother them or didn’t respond when he asked, but the alleged touching made them feel uncomfortable.
They said they didn’t tell anyone about the alleged touching at first.
The youngest alleged victim said she told Berkstresser that she told him to stop once and possibly two or three other times. The other women said they were to afraid to tell him to stop. They described him as controlling.
The women said they eventually felt the touching was not normal and told each other he was touching them.
“At first, I thought it was just me,” one of the women testified.
She went on to say: “I let him control me for so long. I was an adult and it was still happening.”
The two older women said told state police about the alleged touching in early November 2022.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
In the second case, Berkstresser is charged with tickling a woman and slapping her buttocks several times in 2021 and 2022.
