Fugitive Chapman still at large
Warden never told about sexual assault

McKean County Prison Warden Tim Woodruff said this week that he did not know Joseph W. Chapman was being investigated for sexually assaulting a child when he loosened security to allow the inmate out on a work detail.

"I think there was an assumption that we were in the loop," Woodruff said. "We were not."

If he would have known of the pending felony charges, the warden said, Chapman would have been immediately removed the status as a prison trusty.

Chapman, a former Emporium resident, walked away while working outside the Smethport prison on July 30. His prison uniform was discovered in a nearby stream and a regional manhunt got under- way.

The search intensified on Aug. 6 when Emporium Borough Police charged Chapman with sexually assaulting a minor between November 2006 and April of this year.

Chapman, 24, is five-foot nine, weighs about 180 pounds, with blond hair, blue eyes and prescription eye-glasses. Authorities say he may have altered his appearance by growing a beard and dying his hair black. Police neither confirmed nor denied reports that they recently focused their search in the Austin and Keating Summit areas.

Chapman's legal problems date back to December 2002, when he was sent to jail for up to two years after pleading guilty to statutory sexual assault.

Earlier this year, he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, attempting to elude police and reckless endangerment. His probation was revoked and he was returned to jail on April 4.

Charges filed Aug. 6 against Chapman include felony counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault of a victim under age 13. The victim's mother contacted police, prompting a forensics medical examination of the victim in June that confirmed the allegations.

Initially from Erie, Chapman has lived in Emporium and Austin. His mother lives in Cameron County and his children reside in Emporium.