Palmer Man Charged in Stepdaughter Assault

A Palmer Township man, apparently upset at his stepdaughter for the way she reacted to another female in the household having a seizure, assaulted the stepdaughter Wednesday night, court records say.

Gary Noland Weekes, 43, is accused of pushing his 16-year-old stepdaughter against a wall, grabbing and tossing her across a table that had either a glass top or a glass on it, then grabbing her neck. The incident caused cuts to her left temple area and left thumb area and red scratches on her back, the records say.

Weekes, whose court file says he spent six months in a New York City prison in the 1990s, admitted to police he pushed the girl “because she was disrespectful.”

Police responded to 1350 Wayne St. around 8:35pm but left after speaking to Weekes and the stepdaughter. They told an officer they had a “loud argument” and the officer did not observe any problems.

But that scenario changed after the officer spoke to the original 911 caller and then to a friend of the stepdaughter who said she witnessed the incident.

The officer returned to the home and that led to Weekes’ arrest.

A criminal complaint filed by the officer, Jeremiah Santo, gives the following detail:

--The 911 caller said she was called by a friend working in New York. The friend asked her to pick up her daughter at the Wayne Street home. The caller said she noticed the girl had cuts on her ear and the side of her head. She also “observed someone was sweeping up glass.”

--The caller said “she was told that there was a little scuffle.”

--Santo then spoke to the 16-year-old friend of the stepdaughter. She said they were eating and noticed another female go into a seizure. She said Weekes “just charged” at the stepdaughter because she did not help the female “who was seizing.”

--The friend said Weekes grabbed the stepdaughter by the shirt and pulled her toward the table. The stepdaughter was trying to pull away and cut herself from the glass that was on the table.

--Santo returned to the Wayne Street home at 11:26pm to speak to the stepdaughter. By this time, she was with her mother. The girl said the other female started to have a seizure and fell down the stairs. She said Weekes “asked her why she didn’t do anything.”

--She said Weekes then “got in her face,” pushed her in the face, and she fell into the wall. She then was pushed against the table and remembers going across it. She threw a vase at Weekes. He then pushed her against a door and grabbed her by the neck until her brother broke up the incident.

--Weekes admitted to Santo at the township police station he pushed his stepdaughter “because she was disrespectful.” He said she swung at him and he held her against the table, where she broke a vase.

--Weekes said the girl “picked up one of the vases” and threw it at him. Then her brother broke up the incident.

Weekes’ court file says he spent six months in a New York City prison in connection with a 1993 possession of a weapon charge.

In Wednesday’s incident, he was charged with endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and harassment. He was arraigned Thursday by on-duty District Judge John Capobianco of Nazareth and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.