A former Pennsylvania politician admitted to fondling his 103-year-old mother-in-law’s breasts and has been convicted on two counts of indecent assault on a woman.
He’d known the woman for 57 years prior to his conviction and she suffers from dementia.
via NYDN:
“It was just something that I shouldn’t have done,” he told a jury Thursday.
The 75-year-old was arrested in December 2016 after a third alleged assault on the woman took place in a one-month span.
He denied a third assault took place and was found not guilty.
Spingler was once married to the victim’s daughter, who died in 2007, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. He said the victim had lived with him for eight years before moving into a nursing center in Radnor.
The victim suffered from dementia but continued to recognize Spingler — until early December, when Spingler said she couldn’t identify him.
“I got nothing, no recognition out of her and I made the biggest mistake of my life,” he said.
Spingler said he touched the victim’s breasts for “shock value,” and so that she would react to his presence.
“I thought for shock value, you know, I could get her to say something, let her know I was there. I touched her breast. It was the dumbest thing I ever did, but I did it to get her attention and let her know that I was there.”
He did it again during their next meeting — to no avail. Both incidents occurred in the long-term care facility’s dining hall.
Spingler touched his mother-in-law’s breasts under a blanket that concealed the activity, witnesses said, according to the Daily Times.
Radnor Township Police Chief William Colarulo, who arrested Spingler, also testified Thursday.
Colarulo said Spingler immediately understood why he was under arrest.
“I know what this is about. This is about me rubbing breasts. I do it to get her going,” Spingler said, according to Colarulo.
“He said ‘When I see her, I’ll kiss her on the mouth, I’ll rub her breasts to make her feel good about herself. Sometimes she says ‘no,’ but that’s all it is, that’s all there is to it.’ Something to that effect,” Colarulo told the court, according to the report.
The former politician apologized for his actions, calling his decisions “just awful.”
Spingler, who remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 28, pending evaluations by the state’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator.
This is absolutely disgusting.
