Ex-congressional aide spared jail time in sexual assault
READING (AP) – A former congressional aide convicted of sexual assault in eastern Pennsylvania has been spared jail time but must register as a sexual offender for 15 years.
Fifty-seven-year-old Timothy Smith was convicted in Berks County of misdemeanor indecent assault of another man in 2009. Jurors deadlocked on a felony charge.
The Reading Eagle reports that prosecutors sought jail time but the judge decided Monday that Smith wasn’t a risk to the public and doesn’t require rehabilitation. Senior Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye called the sentence too lenient and said his office may appeal.
Smith had worked as an administrative assistant to former U.S. Reps Gus Yatron and Tim Holden. A 21-year-old man said he had been drinking at Smith’s Muhlenberg Township home but awoke to find Smith sexually assaulting him.