A former police chief accused of sexually assaulting a patient at an addiction treatment facility will be tried on the charges, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Tuesday.
Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected a defense claim that the case against former Ligonier Valley police Chief John Berger was defective. The defense argued the facility where the alleged assault took place was not a licensed mental health treatment center and therefore two sexual assault counts should be dismissed.
Berger, 52, was charged in May with seven counts, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and two charges of institutional sexual assault. Authorities said Berger assaulted a patient while working at a Donegal Township addiction treatment facility.
During a preliminary hearing in July, his 25-year-old accuser testified Berger sexually assaulted her in a bedroom. Defense attorney Dan Joseph, following Tuesday’s court appearance, said Berger maintains his innocence.
“Our contention is everything was consensual. He had a consensual relationship with her when they were patients there,” Joseph said.
Consent is not a defense for institutional sexual assault counts, prosecutors claim.
Berger’s accuser said she first met the former police chief in spring 2023 when both were patients at the facility. Berger was fired May 9, 2023, from his job as police chief just days after the department was raided by federal and state law enforcement as part of what still is an unconfirmed investigation. No charges related to the raid have been filed.
Berger was charged with sex crimes a year later. His accuser claimed she found Berger working as a behavioral health technician when she returned to the facility for additional treatment last March. She said Berger previously had made unwanted sexual advances before he came into her bedroom, woke her, groped her and exposed himself before she performed a sex act at his request.
Berger has been free on $100,000 bail since May. His trial is scheduled to begin in February.
