Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teen Girls

A 48-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Lower Saucon Township and telling an adult female who heard what he was doing, “It was the cat,” court records say.

Stephen S. Soultanian of Drums, Luzerne County, was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with two incidents--the alleged sexual assault in June and a harassment complaint in October involving the woman at the same Lower Saucon address.

A criminal complaint filed by Lower Saucon Cpl. Christopher Leidy alleges that Soultanian assaulted the two girls at a sleepover at their friend’s house.

One of the girls told Leidy she was sleeping on a couch “like an angel” when she was awakened by something touching her. She said the touching "hurt," and then she saw a hand pull away.

The girl said she then heard her friend’s mother say, “Steve, what are you doing?”

That was when the man replied, “It was the cat,” she said.

The other girl told Leidy she felt a hand touching her, and that she believes the suspect was touching her at the same time he was touching her friend.

The other girl told Leidy that when she awakened, the suspect ran over to a chair, was breathing heavily and said, “It was the cat.”

The other girl’s account of what happened next differed somewhat from that of the first girl. The other girl said she heard the friend’s mother say, “Stephen, what are you doing,” and he replied, “Watching a movie … I really want to watch it.” She said the suspect said this “in an excited voice.”

In the harassment case, the woman told Lower Saucon Patrolman John Bowlby that she “did break off communication” with Soultanian and told him she wanted nothing to do with him.

Bowlby, in a criminal complaint, said he listened to several voicemails and viewed several text messages left by the suspect--all after the woman told him she wanted nothing to do with him.

The woman received two phone calls from the suspect while Bowlby was at the woman’s house. He said he tried to answer the phone to speak with Soultanian but Soultanian immediately hung up.

Bowlby said he called the suspect's cell phone and left a voicemail saying that Soultanian is not to have any further contact with the woman.

In the alleged sexual assault, Soultanian was charged with two counts of corruption of minors--a level-three felony--and two counts of indecent assault-unconscious person. In the other case, he was charged with harassment.

He was arraigned Tuesday by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail in the alleged sexual assault and $2,500 bail in the alleged harassment.