Delmont man pleads guilty to assault, witness intimidation

Rich Cholodofsky, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 18—A Delmont man was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to 10 years in prison for assault of woman who made similar allegations against him years earlier.

Harold Michael Franks, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and firearms offenses in connection with allegations from last August when police said he stole a gun from his accuser's vehicle in Washington Township, hit her in the face with the weapon then choked her and bound her hands with electrical tape before fleeing.

Franks was later charged with threats against the woman investigators said he made from the Westmoreland County Prison after his arrest. Police said Franks attempted to dissuade her from testifying against him.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears ordered Franks serve a total of 5 to 10 years in prison.

According to court records, Franks' accuser is the same woman who claimed she was physically and sexually assaulted by him in 2017.

In that case, Franks was charged after a bloodied and bruised woman appeared at a Greensburg police station and claimed she was sexually assaulted.

The woman told police she and Franks argued and that he assaulted her, dragged her into a bedroom and forced her to perform a sex act before he raped her. She later refused to testify against Franks, claimed she was drunk, was never raped or assaulted and that the sexual activity was consensual.

In 2020, Franks pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of unlawful restraint and simple assault. Prosecutors dismissed felony counts of rape, sexual assault, strangulation and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and was sentenced to serve 10 to 23 months in jail.

A year earlier, Franks pleaded guilty to a lesser assault charge in connection with allegations he attacked the same woman in June 2018. In that case, prosecutors dismissed charges of strangulation and terroristic threats. He pleaded guilty to simple assault and was sentenced to the 251 days he served in jail and was paroled.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .