“The District Attorney in Somerset County is being accused of sexual assault and Jeffrey Thomas’s lawyer spoke exclusively with KDKA and he says there should not be a rush to judgment. ‘Jeffrey is an innocent person, and I just remind everybody of that,’ Ryan Tutera, the lawyer representing Thomas said. ‘I’m sure he is surprised. I’m sure he is shocked. I’m surprised. I’m shocked but we look forward to having our day in court and fighting these charges.’ Thomas began serving as Somerset’s district attorney last year. Now, he is facing charges of rape and other assault charges. However, Thomas and his lawyer say these are allegations and deny there’s any truth behind them.”

“‘Right now, all we are dealing with is a mere allegation from an accuser maybe having a motive of some sort to make these accusations,’ Tutera said. ‘We don’t know.’ According to the criminal complaint, the victim knew Thomas through her employer, and for years he made advances toward her and she declined. Then, on September 18, Thomas sent her a message through Snapchat saying he was coming over and she said no. He came over anyway and entered her home uninvited. The victim then asked Thomas to leave and then the two got into a fight. According to police, that’s when he got the upper hand and raped her. All of this happened while the victim’s daughter was inside the home. ‘We will get to the bottom of this,’ Tutera said. ‘To the public – treat him in a fair way, in a fair manner. He still is the district attorney, at this point'” KDKA reports.

Though KDKA does not mention Thomas’s affiliation, TribLive.com says he’s a Republican on an article from earlier this year about completely unrelated charges of harassment and disorderly conduct against him being dismissed. Thomas is not to be confused with Chad Salsman, the Republican DA of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, who in May pleaded guilty to coercing female criminal defense clients into sex acts prior to taking office.