HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge will allow a teenager to testify from outside the courtroom during an October jury trial for a California man accused of traveling to Altoona to engage in sexual relations with her.

But if the teenager for any reason is unable to testify, then prosecutors are barred from showing a videotaped interview of the girl at the Altoona Center for Child Justice.

Judge Jackie Bernard’s pre-trial rulings handed down Aug. 28 apply to Don Robison, 43, Milpitas, Calif., who has been in the Blair County Prison since his March 13, 2023, arrest in connection with felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and related offenses.

Altoona police charged Robison after an investigation indicating that he started communicating with a 14-year-old Altoona girl in December 2022, then traveled to Altoona in January 2023 where he entered the girl’s house and stayed two nights.

The girl’s mother was unaware of his presence until seeing footprints in the snow, prompting her to question the daughter and to contact police.

In considering the option of allowing the teenager to testify from outside the courtroom, Bernard convened a hearing on July 16, where Deputy Attorney General David Drumheller indicated that the teenager is to be a trial witness and asked that she be allowed to testify from outside the courtroom.

The option, used in prior trials, is generally set up in a room at the courthouse, with video transmission into the courtroom where the jury and the defendant can watch a child witness answer questions posed by prosecution and defense attorneys.

In considering Drumheller’s request, Bernard set aside time during the July 16 hearing to question the girl in her chambers.

In her ruling, Bernard indicated that the girl spoke of “feeling sick” about coming to court. The girl also spoke of being scared and feeling that she would “freeze” upon seeing Robison.

During the July 16 court hearing, the judge also listened to testimony from the girl’s mother and grandmother, who spoke of how the girl had changed emotionally and how testifying in court would affect her.

While Bernard’s ruling recognized that having the girl testify in court would likely cause emotional distress, the judge didn’t reach that same conclusion in granting the option for her to testify from a location other than the courtroom.

The judge pointed out that the girl previously testified at a preliminary hearing, had answered questions at the Altoona Center for Child Justice and was able to answer questions in chambers.

“While the court is not saying such testimony was necessarily easy for the minor, this court finds that with the use of the contemporaneous method, the victim will be able to testify at the time of trial without resulting in serious emotional distress,” Bernard concluded.

The judge’s ruling also addressed the conditions for which prosecutors can show the jury a videotaped interview of the girl at the Altoona Center for Child Justice.

Because the primary purpose of that interview was to establish or prove past events relative to criminal prosecution, Bernard concluded that Robison retains his right, at trial, to have his defense attorney challenge her statements. That can be done if she testifies from a location outside the courtroom, but if she doesn’t testify, then the judge says the videotaped interview cannot be introduced at trial.

The judge also found that the mother’s testimony about her discussions with her daughter will be admissible at trial even if the girl declines to testify. Because they’re “simply a conversation between a mother and daughter” Bernard concluded that they can be permitted at trial under the state’s Tender Years Hearsay Act.

Robison’s case is scheduled for review in court on Sept. 23 and jury selection on Sept. 30. His trial is currently set for Oct. 15-18.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.