Probation Given To Montco Man For Indecent Assault On Sleeping Woman

NORRISTOWN, PA — A local man was sentenced to four years of probation after he admitted to indecently touching a woman as she slept at a Norristown home three summers ago, according to news reports and court papers.

Robert James Lewis, 32, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of indecent assault of an unconscious person on Aug. 8, just before jury selection was set to begin in his criminal trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

Court records in the case show that following his admission, Lewis was handed the four-year probation sentence by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Risa Vetri Ferman.

Two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault without consent were dropped in exchange for the misdemeanor guilty plea, the criminal docket sheet in the case shows.

A report in the Mercury newspaper says that the case stemmed from an August 2019 report from a Norristown woman who said Lewis touched her inappropriately as she was asleep in a bedroom, and that the advance was totally unwanted.

Lewis reportedly apologized profusely to the victim after the incident in a series of text messages, the Mercury reported.

The exact nature of the relationship between Lewis and woman was not detailed.

In addition to the term of probation, Ferman also ordered Lewis to comply with sex offender registration for a period of 2-to-25 years, she ordered him to have no contact with the victim, and she mandated a psycho-sexual evaluation, saying Lewis would have to comply with any recommendations for treatment that comes out of the assessment.

The record shows that three other misdemeanor criminal counts were also dropped after Lewis entered his guilty plea.