HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that, following a preliminary hearing, all sexual assault charges against former Wilkes-Barre Police Officer Robert Collins were held for court. In January 2019, Attorney General Shapiro charged Collins with three counts of rape, three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, four counts of witness intimidation, false imprisonment and related charges resulting from an extensive investigation by Pennsylvania State Police.
Collins, 53, of the unit block of Powell Street, Mountain Top, Luzerne County, was arrested for sexually assaulting four women while he was on duty, in uniform, and operating a marked or unmarked police vehicle. In all four cases, Collins threatened the women not to report the crimes.
“The community trusted this defendant to protect them, and he took advantage of that position of authority to sexually assault women,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “I am proud of the collaboration between my office and Pennsylvania State Police to hold this perpetrator accountable and seek justice for his victims. As Attorney General, I’m focused on ensuring that anyone using their position of power to abuse others has to answer for it in court.”
The preliminary hearing was held on March 21st in front of Magisterial District Judge Joseph Zola of Luzerne County. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Barney Anderson.
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