Oct. 25—WILKES-BARRE — A Luzerne County jury on Thursday convicted a Wilkes-Barre man of touching a then 9-year-old girl for sexual gratification after attending a 2023 Godsmack concert in Montage.
The jury deliberated for just over three hours before finding Michael William Mullins, 43, guilty of offenses of indecent assault and corruption of minors and three offenses of indecent assault.
The verdict came after a two-day trial before Judge David W. Lupas.
Detectives with the Wilkes-Barre Police Department accused Mullins of rubbing the girl’s legs and kissing her at his Austin Avenue home after the concert on Aug. 2, 2023.
The girl told her father’s girlfriend on August 4, 2023 and reported it to the police on August 6, 2023.
During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Carl Frank argued that the girl was “consistent” in her statement to her father’s girlfriend, police and during a forensic interview at the Luzerne County Children’s Advocacy Center in Wilkes-Barre.
Mullins’ attorney, Nanda Palissery, has submitted records of multiple telephone conversations between Mullins and his wife on the night of August 2 to August 3, 2023.
Palissery used the phone records to illustrate that Mullins could not have committed the offenses as he had repeated and ongoing contact with his wife who was at work.
Mullins attended the concert with the girl and his stepdaughter, also 9 years old at the time.
After returning home from the concert, Mullins testified that he told the two girls to brush their teeth and called the girl to take her medication before sending both girls to bed.
While the girls brushed their teeth and the girl took her medication, he was on the phone with his wife, Mullins testified.
Mullins adamantly denied touching and kissing the girl, calling the allegations “disgusting and vile.”
After the jury’s verdict, Lupas revoked Mullins’ bail and sent him to the county correctional facility.
Lupas ordered an evaluation of Mullins by the state Sexual Offender Assessment Board and scheduled the sentencing hearing for Jan. 17.
