September 8, 2020 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Aston woman charged with sexual assault

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announced that Carly Green, 24, of Aston, has been charged with statutory sexual assault and institutional sexual assault of a child, both felonies, in connection with a sexual relationship between the defendant and a male child, beginning when the boy was 15.

“This is a sad case involving a teacher, as well as a family friend, abusing the trust placed in her by both the parent and the child. The defendant chose to exploit the relationship of trust built over several years by engaging in a sexual relationship with the victim, knowing full well both the age of the child and the legal age of consent. The law cannot tolerate this flagrant disregard for the guardrails that we have erected to keep our children safe,” Stollsteimer said in a press release.

He added that “as difficult as this situation is, I applaud the victim’s parent for being alert to warning signs. She saw changes in her son’s behavior and followed up on her concerns. Law enforcement can’t do it alone – we need the help of parents in protecting our kids.”

On Nov. 9, 2019, Officer Kyle O’Brien of the West Whiteland Police Department was dispatched in response to a report by a parent of a crime against her son involving inappropriate sexual contact. The victim’s parent explained to O’Brien that she had observed changes in her son’s demeanor, in that he appeared depressed and his grades had started to drop. In addition, she discovered that he had begun drinking alcohol and vaping, behaviors that he had not, to her knowledge, previously engaged in.

When she confronted her son, he admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the defendant, Carly Green, a long-time friend and teacher. From the age of 10, the victim had been a student at a dance studio located in Aston where the defendant was an instructor. Further forensic investigation revealed that the victim’s phone contained inappropriate messages between the victim and the defendant, as well as nude photos.

The case was subsequently assigned for investigation to Detective Michael Buchmann of the West Whiteland Police Department and he conducted an interview with the victim. The victim stated that the sexual relationship had started in 2018 in the defendant’s residence in Aston when he was 15. Although some of the activity in question occurred in Chester County, the Office of the Chester County District Attorney has relinquished jurisdiction of the prosecution of this alleged offense to the Delaware County District Attorney.

Accompanied by her attorney, Kevin O’Neill, the defendant turned herself in on Friday, Sept. 4. Bail was set at $50,000, unsecured. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25, in front of Judge Diane Holefelder.

The District Attorney and the Criminal Investigations Division remind anyone in Delaware County who observes suspicious activity call to 911 immediately and provide the most specific and accurate details possible to assist law enforcement agencies investigating the call for service.

About CFLive Staff

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Ballot controversy in Concord

Local News Concord, Local News, Local News Chadds Ford

UPDATE: See below

While voters in Chadds Ford Township will have a new polling place for the November election, Democrats in Concord Township are calling foul-play for their voting. The township has reportedly disallowed the use of ballot drop off boxes at polling places this year.

Township resident and activist Ken Hemphill said, “We’re in the middle of a pandemic and we have a president who’s trying to dismantle the postal service. Having a drop off box for mail-in ballots is an easy way for municipalities to ensure every vote gets counted.”

Vineet Gupta, a poll worker in Concord, echoed Hemphill’s comment: “We are in the middle of a pandemic, 20 percent of township residents and the majority of poll workers are over the age of 65. Having drop boxes will take out some of the foot traffic from the crowded polling locations on election day. Concord Township Council made the decision without any public comment.”

The Concord and Bethel Democrats said Concord Republicans are “engaging in un-American vote suppression…For them to blame delays on incompetence or anything else is more evidence of how broken and dishonest the Republican Party under Trump has become. Democracy to them is an impediment, not a constitutionally enshrined American institution.”

That message included what appears to be a screenshot from the township Republican Facebook page:

However, an attempt by Chadds Ford Live to verify the authenticity of the part of the message was met with an error message:

Gupta said Concord Republicans posted the comment about rejecting the boxes on Thursday night but later withdrew the comment.

Democrats are speculating that the decision was made during an executive session after last week’s Township Council meeting. However, Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act precludes an executive session for such a reason. The act limits executive sessions to matters involving litigation, hiring and firing of employees, and the sale or purchase of real estate.

The act also makes allowances for a closed session if information discussed would violate protected confidentiality and for educational institutions to discuss matters of academic admission.

Chadds Ford Live also made attempts to learn who, when, and where the decision was made. Neither an email to the township manager nor a phone message left for Council President Dominic Pileggi were answered prior to press time.

As for Chadds Ford Township residents, those wanting to vote in person will be going to the former beer distributor building in Painters Crossing shopping center across the parking lot from Nudy’s.

UPDATE:

More than 24 hours after Chadds Ford Live requested clarification and more information, Concord Township sent out a press release saying there had been no executive session on the matter. The release said the board simply took no action. Here is the full release:

“On Aug. 25 the Delaware County Board of Elections presented Concord Township with a request and a license agreement for the placement of a ballot box on Township property for the receipt of mail-in and absentee ballots outside the US Postal Service. The license agreement provided for ballot box placement for a period of five years together with other conditions.

“The Interim Director of Elections requested that the license agreement be returned on or before September 9th. Concord Township Council took no action at the September 1st public meeting on this request. The Delaware County Board of Elections was informed on September 2nd that the Township would not participate in this program and installation of a ballot box as no action had been taken on the license agreement at the public meeting. No Executive Session was held to discuss this matter.

“Registered voters will be able to vote at the polls on election day. Additionally, “no excuse” mail-in voting is now permitted. That is, any registered voter can apply now for a mail-in ballot and mail the completed ballot in a self-addressed pre-paid envelope to the County for tabulation. It is expected that the Delaware County Board of Elections will send out requested ballots in early October via US Postal Service. More information regarding this process is available on the County’s website.

“Concord Township is proud of its history of assisting the County Election Board in the election process. Over the years, the Township has taken on the task of performing and paying for the required studies to allow for an increase in the number of voting precincts from 4 to 11 as well as assisting in finding locations for those precincts, along with setup and other services. Any implication that Township Council is subverting the election process is untrue and unfounded.

We urge our citizens to exercise their right to vote, either in person at the polls on election day or by mail-in ballot via the US Postal Service.”

END UPDATE

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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Art Live: Studio time

Arts & Entertainment

If you are driving at night around Birchrunville and you happen to see brilliant light illuminating the sky, you might be passing by artist Charles Emlen’s Run Amok Farm. “I make a good bit of kinetic/outdoor/installation type work and it is typically on display in my yard. Much of the work involves light. If you drive by my place in the evening and the power is on, there’s a good chance you’ll see something you may not have seen before.”

Emlen is fascinated by systems and technology and, well, a whole lot of other things. “I can’t help but see the physical world as an endless field of size, scale, complexity and granularity. The universe is at once infinitely large and infinitely small.” He uses a wide range of materials to produce visually stunning art. Whether it be sculpture, painting, wall relief, digital collage, video, audio or a large scale site specific installation, it is candy for all five senses. His art envelops viewers in fantastical, stimulating experiences.

Working through a pandemic hasn’t been very hard for Emlen. “I live alone and my studio is in the basement. Spending extra time at home has allowed me to spend that much more time in the studio. It’s worked out well.” He’s been busy working on a new series of mid-size steel sculptures that he plans to unveil at the Ivystone Studio Gallery in Downingtown later this month. Gearing up for the Chester County Studio Tour, he expects to bring along some light based work too, “Over the past year I’ve been experimenting with computer driven LED light sculptures. And, I’ll have a selection of my smaller, table top steel sculptures completed over the past several years.”

Emlen’s work is currently on view at New Hope Arts’ 19^th Annual Juried Exhibition and the 2020 BOA (Bank of the Arts) National Juried Exhibition at the Craven Arts Center in North Carolina where he received the Best in Category Award, Sculpture for his dramatic piece “The Pickering Conspiracy”. To sign up for his periodic newsletter, contact him at chasemlen@gmail.com. Emlen shares his work with a wider audience through Facebook, Instagram and his website. For a small taste of what his work is all about, check out his video titled “A Quixotic Convergence of Whimsically Subversive Eccentricities” here.

Ivystone Studio Gallery is a large open barn space, a perfect setting for the art that will be on view later in September. If you haven’t been by there yet, you are in for a treat. Other artists on the tour there this year include owner and glass artist Justin Smith, glass artist Anna Boothe and painter Lynnette Shelley. Smith will be featuring his works in glass as will Boothe, who has displayed her colorful works at craft museums around the country including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Shelley will be bringing some of her newest works. “While everyone was in lockdown, I was working on artwork non-stop and I have a good collection of original paintings in a variety of sizes and price points.” Shelley is also showing work at the new David Katz Gallery in West Chester, at Borelli’s Chestnut Hill Gallery and at Deja 42 Gallery in Philadelphia. For more on Shelley visit her website here and for more on Boothe visit here.

Regarding safety measures for the studio tour, Shelley said, “The windows and doors will be open to have a free flow of outside air and we’ll allow only 25 people in the space at a time. The artists will be spaced out and the interior traffic flow will maximize social distancing. Masks will be mandatory. Food and Drink will be pre-packaged individual sizes and sanitizer will be available throughout the gallery.” The group is hosting a pre-party on Friday, Sept. 18^th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. For more about Ivystone Studio Contemporary Art Gallery visit here and for more on their stop, #12, visit here.

“Teach Your Children Well” by Rachel Altschuler at Station Gallery

Other events worth checking out this week: In Delaware, the Station Gallery is hosting artists Rachel Altschuler and Gay Freeborn. Their show titled “Teach Your Children Well” runs through Sept. 26^th.

At The Delaware Contemporary (TDC) see a new group exhibition titled “Farthest From the Ordinary”. Juried by Exhibitions Director Rick Hildago, this “Friends of TDC” show will be on display in the E. Avery Draper Gallery from Sept. 11, 2020 through Jan. 8, 2021. Expect to see a variety of works including sculpture by the venerable artist and co-founder of TDC, Rick Rothrock, surreal paintings by Benjamin Long, and other works by Susan Benarcik, Susan Belascio, Steven Dobbin, Nanci Hersh, and Lauren Ann Whearty.

“I’m All Ears” by Gay Freeborn at Station Gallery

Whatever you do this week, support the arts.

About Constance McBride

A native of Philadelphia, Constance McBride lived in Arizona for 16 years, where desert observations made a transformative impact on her work as a research based visual artist. Passionate about contemporary art, she was actively engaged in the local arts community. She served as a board member for several art organizations, managed an artist collective/gallery space, curated and juried several exhibitions and wrote for two arts publications in Phoenix. She taught ceramics at Shemer Art Center and Museum and exhibited her work both locally and nationally. McBride returned to Pennsylvania in 2018 and resides in Chester Springs with her husband and two dogs. In West Chester, she serves as a board member at The Art Trust Gallery at Meridian Bank and teaches ceramics at Chester County Art Association. She also teaches at Clay on Main in Oley, PA. She is a member of American Craft Council, Philadelphia Sculptors, and Women’s Caucus for Art, Philadelphia Chapter.

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