Aug 23, 2013 2 min read

Sheriff’s deputies accompanied a Cecil Township man accused of committing sex crimes to Washington County Court Friday so he could learn his fate from the judge who heard testimony in the case last week.

Eric Wayne Smith, 45, of 20 Third St., Lawrence, was acquitted of statutory sexual assault and sexual assault, but convicted of indecent assault of a person under age 16, false imprisonment, making terroristic threats and corrupting minors.

Judge Edward Borkowski, who travels weekly from Allegheny County to preside over Washington County Court, which has only four of its complement of six judges, took the Aug. 16 testimony under advisement before delivering his verdict, citing discrepancies in what was alleged to have occurred in the bedroom of Smith’s home in late summer 2012.

The victim, who was then 13, told police he would go to Smith’s house to obtain and to smoke marijuana. Borkowski referred to Smith’s conduct as “grooming” a group of young people. On the night of the alleged assault, the boy told police he went into Smith’s home and after the two smoked marijuana, Smith restrained him in an upstairs bedroom and sexually assaulted him, township police said.

After the alleged assault, the boy told police Smith threatened to kill him if the boy told anyone. Authorities were contacted about three months after the episode.

Since his arrest Dec. 18, Smith has been incarcerated in the Washington County jail, where he remains under $100,000 bond pending sentencing.