A Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas judge has dismissed all charges against two brothers from Towamencin who were accused of kidnapping and raping a teen boy in December 2017.
Court records indicate that in August 2020, charges against Collin McAnally, 26, and Connor McAnally, 27, were dismissed by Judge William Carpenter. The pair had been charged in October 2019 with felony counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and kidnapping to facilitate a felony, along with misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors and indecent assault, stemming from the December 2017 incident.
Kate Delano, Director of Communications for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said the charges were dismissed through a “procedural hurdle” relating to the court’s interpretation of a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling.
That ruling — Commonwealth v. McClelland, which was decided on July 21 — held that hearsay evidence alone is insufficient to establish a prima facie case at a preliminary hearing.
“It is something more than a procedural hurdle,” said Bonnie Keagy, who served as defense counsel for Collin McAnally. “That new case was clear that hearsay cannot be the sole basis to hold any defendant over for trial at a preliminary hearing.”
With the McClelland ruling, Keagy said she was able to successfully argue that the charges should be dismissed due to insufficient reliable evidence being presented at Collin’s preliminary hearing. Court records indicate a similar argument was made by Connor’s attorney — Michael Kotik, with the SKA Law Group — leading to his charges being dismissed as well.
The district attorney’s office maintains the right to refile the charges against the brothers, but Delano said prosecutors would take time to weigh if refiling would be beneficial for the victim.
“We are deciding whether refiling charges is in the best interest of the victim,” Delano said. “I don't have a time frame on when that decision will be made.”
The charges stem from a missing person report filed in early December 2017, which lead to a two-year investigation by the Towamencin Township Police Department.
According to the criminal complaint, Towamencin Township Police were notified at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2017, of a missing 13-year-old boy who was last seen at the basketball courts near Liberty Bell Drive and Adams Road in the Towamencin Condominiums complex. At 9:21 p.m. that evening, the boy was located near Liberty Bell and Continental Drives within the complex, and two males were seen running east on Continental Drive by fire company personnel.
The males were unable to be located that evening, police said, though investigators later identified them as Connor and Collin McAnally.
The boy’s mother took him to Einstein Medical Center at 1:50 a.m. the following morning because he was acting abnormal, according to the complaint. A drug test was performed, which later showed that the boy had marijuana and methamphetamine in his system, but the doctors stated that they believed the positive reading for methamphetamine was due to the boy’s ADHD medication, the report states.
On Dec. 13, 2017, Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center conducted an interview with the boy, who related that on Dec. 2 he was taken to a house belonging to the mother of Collin (then 23 years old) and Connor (then 25 years old) McAnally, located along the unit block of Longwood Court West, the report states. The boy told investigators that the McAnally brothers forced him to smoke marijuana, and told him not to mention anything to police because it was illegal, the report states.
On Dec. 28, 2017, Connor McAnally spoke to investigators and provided a written statement in which he allegedly admitted to having the boy at his home with his brother, the report states.
Afterwards, both Connor and Collin McAnally were charged with one misdemeanor count of corruption of minors. Collin plead guilty to the charge on April 11, 2019, and was sentenced to four days to 23 months in county jail, followed by one year of probation. Connor’s case remained unresolved at the time the second round of charges were filed, according to court records.
On May 9, 2019, Mission Kids conducted a second interview with the boy, regarding the Dec. 2, 2017 incident. The boy stated that he was playing basketball when he was approached by Collin and Connor McAnally, who allegedly threatened him to get into their vehicle and took him to their mother’s house, the report states.
Upon arrival to the house, the boy stated that the brothers forced him to smoke marijuana "or they would kill him,” according to the complaint. While at the home, the boy stated that the brothers allegedly pulled their pants down—as well as his—and began to perform oral sex on the boy, despite him telling them to stop, the report states. The boy stated that Connor and Collin went on to masturbate in front of him, and he tried to dial 9-1-1 but there was no wireless connection, according to the report.
Connor then allegedly picked up the boy and placed him into a closet in a bedroom, where he allegedly raped him, according to the report. The complaint states that the boy tried to punch Connor, but Connor allegedly had a pocket-knife and threatened to stab him. Later, the boy said that Connor used the knife to cut the head off of a stuffed animal and told him he would do the same to the boy if he ever told anyone what happened, the report states.
As a result of the May 2019 allegations, both Collin and Connor were charged with felony counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and kidnapping to facilitate a felony, along with misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors and indecent assault.
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