TOWANDA, Pa. — State police have charged Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman with sexual assault, victim intimidation, and encouraging prostitution.
The charges are related to improper behavior with female clients while he was in private practice.
Salsman, 44, was elected Bradford County district attorney in 2019.
A grand jury found that, in the course of his private practice, Salsman used the power and authority of his position as an attorney to pressure "vulnerable female clients" into sexual contact. The contact allegedly happened at Salman's office on Park Street in Towanda.
Salsman faces more than a dozen charges, including sexual assault and prostitution. The district attorney was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Bradford County.
Salsman was led into a magistrate's office in Towanda in handcuffs.
"I'm innocent," he said.
At a news conference in Towanda, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Salsman would ask the women for explicit pictures, grope them, and pressure them into sex instead of paying legal fees. The assaults allegedly took place inside Salsman's private law office in Towanda and before he took office as district attorney.
"Salsman would bring them into his private office under the guise of discussing their case and used his knowledge of his client's vulnerabilities to negate their consent and sexually assault them," Shapiro said. "He would regularly threaten his victims into silence, telling them that he could and would ruin their lives if they spoke out about the assault."
In late December, state police searched Salsman's private law firm. Shapiro says during the grand jury investigation, Salsman demanded that a former employee tell him what was discussed in court. He was district attorney at this time.
"The victims in this case were relying on him to be their advocate, to represent them at a time when they felt powerless. Instead, they ended up being preyed upon."
Salsman is still the Bradford County district attorney. At his arraignment, the magistrate set Salsman's bail at $500,000. Salsman told the magistrate that he is working with a bail bond agent, and he plans to post the 10 percent necessary to be released.
The case was referred to the grand jury by outgoing Bradford County District Attorney Daniel Barrett in late 2019.