NORTHAMPTON — A Northampton man has denied allegations that he raped a 14-year-old girl.
Corey Learned, 24, pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court Tuesday morning to three counts of rape and abuse of a child.
The incidents allegedly occurred between Nov. 1, 2016 and Dec. 1, 2016.
Learned and the girl met through a friend of Learned’s who went to school with her.
The Gazette generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.
The two began speaking in October 2016 through text messages and eventually developed a relationship before the alleged rape in November, according to documents in Northampton District Court.
The girl’s parents found out about the alleged incidents after someone reported it to the girl’s high school.
When police questioned Learned in December 2016, he said the first time he had sex with the girl he didn’t know her age, according to documents.
Defense attorney Alfred Chamberland said in court that Learned underwent a sex offender risk and treatment assessment and was deemed a low risk for re-offense and no threat to the community.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Linda Pisano disagreed with Chamberland, saying there were “contrary arguments” to the assessment.
Learned was released on $2,000 bail. He had previously posted $5,000 bail in district court. As part of his release, Learned is not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 years old.
Judge Richard Carey did not agree with the prosecution’s argument of a need for electronic monitoring.
Learned was arraigned on similar charges in district court last December, where he also pleaded not guilty.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.