Montco Child Abuse Defendant Petitions Court For Bail Reinstatement

NORRISTOWN, PA — An attorney representing a Delaware County man who is accused of severely abusing his former girlfriend's young son is asking a Montgomery County judge to reinstate bail in the case so his client can be released from custody pending trial in the matter.

A lawyer for Steven Dougherty, 31, of Collingdale, Pa., filed court papers recently seeking to have Dougherty's bail reinstated after the defendant had been sent to the county correctional facility pending resolution of the case.

Pierre Latour, III, filed his petition for reinstatement of bail with Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to the criminal docket sheet in the case against Dougherty.

Patch reported last week that the criminal case against Dougherty is moving forward after the defendant was held for trial following a preliminary hearing.

Related: Montco Child Abuse Case Moves Forward After Defendant Held For Trial

The allegations against Dougherty are quite graphic in nature; prosecutors say that the abuse was so bad at one point that the 5-year-old boy's genitals were injured to the point where he had to be carried to a school nurse's office.

The boy's mother, Emily Laster, 30, of Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, is also facing criminal charges in connection with the case.

The case against Laster is now moving forward after she recently waived a preliminary hearing.

Citing the petition for reinstatement of bail, the Mercury newspaper reported that Latour, Dougherty's defense lawyer, wrote that his client is not a flight risk and should be permitted to await trial out of state custody.

"Petitioner is not a danger to the community. Petitioner has no history of violent offenses," Latour wrote in the petition, according to the Mercury report.

Court records show that Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Wendy Rothstein scheduled a hearing for Nov. 2 to address the bail reinstatement petition.

Dougherty is currently being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

During the upcoming hearing, prosecutors will have the opportunity to weigh in on Dougherty's request.

Dougherty was held for trial on all of the charges against him during a recent preliminary hearing.

Records show that the charges include felony counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child, as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Dougherty was initially granted bail by a lower court judge, but a Common Pleas Court judge subsequently revoked bail after prosecutors argued that Dougherty was a danger to the community, and Dougherty was remanded into custody.