Defendant Peter Flanagan, who is facing rape charges, testified Tuesday in Luzerne County, PA,that he and a then-38-year-old mentally challenged
woman had a five- to six-year relationship before she became pregnant and gave
birth to a stillborn baby girl.Psychiatry
expert witness Richard Fischbein testified for the prosecution that he
interviewed the woman and found that she functions at the level of an 8- or
9-year-old, and that she can accomplish only basic daily living functions, “No way, no how does she have the capacity to
consent to sex.”
Flanagan originally denied having
sexual relations with the woman, but DNA testing later proved Flanagan was the
father of the woman’s 24-week-old stillborn child. Police began their
investigation when the woman gave birth at Wilkes-Barre GeneralHospital.
Hospital officials became suspicious because the woman said she did not know
she was pregnant.
