BROOMALL, Pa. (WPVI) — Neighbors in the quiet Marple Woods condominium complex had no idea of the horrors that were allegedly taking place in this home for the past several days.
“I wish I had seen the little girl. I would’ve helped her,” a woman who wanted to remain anonymous told Action News.
Instead, this neighbor found out when the 14-year-old victim led her family back to the house where she says 38-year-old Davonte Lawler-Stinney held her against her will, and sexually assaulted her for three days.
“She said, ‘Mommy, this is the house,'” the neighbor recalled.
The girl was originally reported missing by her family after she ran away from their home in Philadelphia on Sunday.
She told detectives that on Tuesday, she was picked up at a Sunoco in Chester by an unknown male and taken back to his home in Marple Township.
On Thursday, her family somehow found her back in Chester. Marple Township police couldn’t say whether or how she escaped the condo, where she was allegedly being held.
Police Chief Brandon Graeff said it’s also still unclear how she ended up in the suspect’s car to begin with.
“Details are a little sketchy as far as everything that kind of led up to her ending up here in Marple and with the suspect,” Chief Graeff told Action News.
Lawler-Stinney faces a long list of charges, including rape, strangulation, terroristic threats and unlawful restraint of a minor.
The victim told detectives she was raped five to six times, and the suspect threatened to shoot and kill her.
“I mean, it’s horrifying. I have kids and for something like that to happen, it’s just a terrible tragedy,” Andre Petroski, who was dropping his children off at a relative’s in the neighborhood.”
The suspect was already a registered sex offender and had just recently been released from jail for a 2020 sex assault.
“This is scary. We have young kids around here. So I’m glad we found out tonight,” resident Dolores Kent said.
“I would say to the folks here in Marple, this guy is right now in our custody and God willing he’ll be out at the jail for a long, long time if these things are proven true,” Chief Graeff said.
Lawler-Stinney was arraigned Friday afternoon, and District Judge Wendy Roberts set bail at $150,000 — an amount many residents in that condo complex felt was far too low.
It’s also $100,000 less than the bail set by the same judge for another sexual assault back in 2020. In that case, he was arrested for one charge – Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (IDSI) by forcible compulsion.
“Yeah, I feel like that’s been a theme with the bails, especially of violent offenders. It’s a shame. Hopefully, things start to change politically at least,” Petroski said.
As of Friday, he has not been able to post bail.
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