Defense: Women In Cop's Coercion Sex Case Copied Each Other
PITTSBURGH -- A suspended Pittsburgh police officer was ordered by a judge on Friday to stand trial on charges that he offered legal assistance to four women in return for sexual favors and tried to rape one of them.
Adam Skweres, 34, of Lincoln Place, is on home confinement but was allowed to appear at his preliminary hearing, where the women gave testimony as Skweres stood just a few feet away.
One of the accusers cried in Municipal Court as she described the sexual contact that she claims Skweres forced on her. "I think they all copied each other -- one after another after another after another," defense attorney Jim Ecker said. "And I think, in (trial) court, you'll find a different story."
"I think credibility is a huge issue in this case, and today was not the forum where you're going to win or lose a case like this," defense attorney Phil DiLucente said. "But certainly, there's issues with this case."
Skweres pleaded not guilty and made no other comment. His charges include attempted rape, indecent assault, coercion, official oppression and bribery.
One woman testified Skweres threatened to send her to jail during a July 2008 incident, telling her, "You don't know what a pretty girl like you could do for a guy like me."
The woman said Skweres also told her, "It didn't have to be sex, it could be other things," and if she reported him, she'd, "Never walk, talk or breathe again."
A second woman testified Skweres threatened to get her into child custody trouble in July 2008 if she didn't submit to sex acts.
She said Skweres told her they'd start with oral sex and, "We'll go from there."
Martha Watkins was the third woman to testify.
She previously spoke to Channel 4 Action News, telling reporter Keith Jones that Skweres -- who had previously arrested her fiance -- came to her home on Dec. 28 and "asked for oral favors, repetitively told me it would only take five minutes and it would get all of my fiance's charges dropped."
According to the criminal complaint, the officer told her to "lose the clothing" and unzipped his pants, but she refused the sex. The fourth accuser testified Skweres tried to rape her and indecently assaulted her, exposing himself and forcing contact for five to 10 minutes.
A new charge of drug possession was added to the list on Friday, based on the discovery of crack cocaine when police executed a search warrant on Skweres' personal vehicle.
Also on Friday, it came to light that a conversation between Skweres and one of the women may have been the subject of a wiretap during the police investigation.
Skweres was arrested Feb. 16 and held in the Allegheny County Jail for more than a week. He had two court-ordered evaluations before being released on a non-monetary bond with house arrest and electronic monitoring.
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The city has filed paperwork seeking to fire Skweres but the police union says that can't happen until his case is finished in court.
"He abuses the badge," Police Chief Nate Harper has said. "He abuses the right to be a police officer by using that to get his own means satisfied."
Skweres' brother, Joseph, has told Channel 4 Action News that the officer intends to fight the charges.