Plea deal made in case of sex abuse against girl

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First Posted: 8/31/2012 WILKES-BARRE &amp;#8211; A former Hazleton resident convicted nearly 14 years ago of sexually assaulting two children will be retried after a state court declined prosecutors' request to deny a new trial.
Gerald Delbridge, 61, was convicted in May 1999 of aggravated indecent assault and other offenses related to the alleged assault of a 6-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy who are related to him.
In December 2011 the state Superior Court granted a request for a new trial, after Delbridge alleged his attorney was ineffective for failing to object to faulty jury instructions.
The Luzerne County District Attorney's Office appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in June it would not hear the appeal.
Senior Judge Joseph Augello on Thursday scheduled Delbridge, who will have served 14 years in prison on Sept. 3, to stand trial again on Oct. 2.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Sept. 20, and Augello set Delbridge's bail at $100,000.
The judge said Delbridge may post 10 percent cash, real estate or hire a bondsman. It was not clear Thursday if Delbridge will be able to post that bail amount.
He said he would live with his aunt at her home in Bucks County if released from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. He has adamantly maintained his innocence, arguing the children's testimony was influenced by improper interviewing techniques. 
A Luzerne County judge in 2010 granted Delbridge a hearing to determine if the children had been improperly influenced. The state Superior Court later upheld that ruling, and went a step further, granting Delbridge a new trial based on its finding his trial attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, was ineffective in representing him. 
Delbridge's current attorney, Joseph Yeager, said Thursday his client has no prior criminal record other than misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and has nothing to gain since he has already served well over the minimum of his original 10-to-22-year prison sentence.
Yeager indicated a plea agreement may be reached in the case before the trial date.
Delbridge said he had previously received his GED, had worked at Walmart for 11 years and has had no misconducts in prison.
"For the last 10 years, I've been on the honor block, (where the prison) gives you clearance to work outside prison," Delbridge said.
Assistant District Attorney Jenny Roberts said she was asking the judge to set a high bail amount because of the seriousness of the charges Delbridge faces. She said that although the victims in the case are now adults that live outside of Pennsylvania, they still fear retaliation and contact from Delbridge.

After 14 years, inmate granted new trial