Trial opens for Latrobe man accused of raping 2 teens

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday morning in a 2020 rape case against a former Latrobe man.

Attorneys delivered closing arguments to the jury Tuesday afternoon following testimony from a woman who claimed Glenn D. Jones Jr., 25, now of Hostetter, raped her when she was 15. A second woman testified about being groped by Jones when she was 16.

Defense attorney Jaclyn Shaw questioned the accounts of both accusers and asked jurors to consider if they felt the testimony was genuine.

“This case really comes down to what you believe,” she said.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli argued that the accusers had no reason to lie.

“You are able, through your verdict and through believing her … to turn that into justice,” he said.

One of the accusers testified that Jones choked and raped her at his apartment when she was 15. She had gone over to his apartment in May 2020 to buy marijuana from him after the two communicated on the social media site Snapchat.

“I could barely speak … because I just couldn’t breathe,” she said. “There was a lot of pressure on my neck.”

She said she took a friend with her to Jones’ apartment about a month later because she wanted more marijuana from him.

“I’d rather have somebody with me … because of what he did to me,” she said.

In early June 2020, the two girls were drinking and smoking marijuana at Jones’ apartment when police said he groped them separately, according to court papers. They immediately reported the incident to police. Jones denied touching the teens or selling them marijuana.

He is charged by Latrobe police with rape, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and related offenses.