Monroe man convicted of assaulting elderly man in Stroudsburg

On By Pranco

The man who attacked a 75-year-old man outside the Monroe County Courthouse in February has been convicted.

On Thursday, November 14, Adam John Male, 43, of Saylorsburg, was sentenced to three to six months in prison in a separate DUI case.

On February 5Male was leaving the Monroe County Courthouse when he punched the victim, Lloyd Leap. Male pleaded guilty on September 11 to simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, both second-degree felonies.

At sentencing, Male said the attack was “not indicative of who I am” and apologized for what he did.

The victim’s wife, Wanda Leap, said during her victim impact statement that she was in the hospital when she received the news that her husband had been attacked.

“You put my life through hell,” Wanda Leap said, adding that she thought her husband was dead. She asked Male, “Why did you ever hit my husband?”

Judge Jennifer Sibum said Male had been diagnosed with mental health problems and could not remember parts of it.

Wanda Leap added that Male owes her an apology.

Male responded that his apology was partly to the family, in addition to the judge and the Commonwealth, before adding that he believed the victim was someone in his life who was “giving him crap.” Sibum later revealed from the pre-sentencing report that Male was talking about U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.

Lloyd suffered multiple injuries from the attack, including but not limited to whiplash, cuts, bruises, a fracture and a sprained wrist. His son Jeffrey Leap also said his father had a small microangiopathic change in his brain, which he said could lead to long-term brain damage.

Jeffrey Leap asked that Male be punished to the fullest extent of the law, adding that he did not single out someone his own size or age, nor did he single out someone capable of defending himself, as the victim was not looking. towards him and had one hand on his dog’s leash.

Lloyd Leap was present at Male’s sentencing and did not make a victim impact statement.

Before handing down her sentence, Sibum told Male she hoped he understands the trauma he has caused the victim’s family. Male said it was an “eye-opener to continue taking my medication.” Sibum said she hopes his words ring true, and that time will tell. She said there would never be an acceptable excuse for Male to attack people or avoid taking medications.

Sibum sentenced Male to a maximum of three to six months, two years’ probation and a $300 fine for a separate drunk driving case. In the assault case, she sentenced him to a prison term of 194 days to two years, two years of probation and a $250 fine. The sentences are to run consecutively.

Assistant District Attorney Chad Martinez, who was present at the sentencing, pointed out that the sentence “exceeded even the aggravated range as set forth in the sentencing guidelines.”

‘A joke’ versus ‘maximum possible punishment’

After the conviction, the Leap family criticized that Male was not given more serious charges and a harsher sentence. Lloyd Leap’s son Steve Leap just said “soft on crime.”

“Given the lasting damage it has caused my family, this sentence is a joke,” Jeffrey Leap said. “Three to six months for a DUI that didn’t even involve my family.”

Assistant Monroe County District Attorney James Fuller, who prosecuted the case, spoke to the Pocono Record by phone.

Another complaint from the Leap family was that the video of Lloyd’s assault was not played in court. When asked if this was true, Fuller said it probably was, as Male pleaded guilty and there would have been no reason to show the video. “I mean if we had to prove it, but he admitted it,” Fuller said. “He pleaded guilty to the two main charges.”

When asked why Male was not charged with a crime, Fuller said it was aggravated assault: you have to prove serious bodily harm, adding: “Case law has described it as a kind of permanent disfigurement.”

“So with something like a broken arm and broken bones, there are some cases where it’s even said that a concussion can be a serious physical injury, and things like that,” Fuller said. “And the victim in this case simply did not have that.”

“We take everything into consideration when we are charged, and the charge would come from Stroud Area Regional Police, who responded to the scene, and they make that decision,” Fuller said. “We have to take what we have as concrete, so when they say ‘it might lead to it,’ we need the actual serious bodily harm.”

Fuller also said the amount of time Male spent in jail was higher than what the standard range typically recommends. “So he served the maximum possible sentence that we could possibly have had him serve,” Fuller said.

Max Augugliaro is a public safety reporter and government watchdog at the Pocono Record. Reach him out [email protected].