Com. v. Clapper, J.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided January 21, 2025·No. 1163 WDA 2023·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

JARROD MICHAEL CLAPPER :

:

Appellant : No. 1163 WDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered August 4, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-05-CR-0000241-2022

BEFORE: MURRAY, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and KING, J. MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED: January 21, 2025 Jarrod Michael Clapper appeals from the judgment of sentence entered following his convictions for institutional sexual assault, corruption of a minor, and unlawful contact with a minor.1 He challenges the sufficiency and weight of the evidence, the court’s allowance of an exhibit during jury deliberations, and his sexual offender registration as required by the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”).2 We affirm.

The Commonwealth charged Clapper, who worked for the Bedford Area School District, with the above offenses following sexual contact with a student, R.M. At trial, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of three

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3124.2(a.2), 6301(a)(1)(i), and 6318(a)(1), respectively.

2 See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9799.10-9799.42.

witnesses: John Diehl, the Director of Technology for the Bedford Area School District; R.M.; and R.M.’s friend, T.C. The witnesses testified as follows.

Diehl testified that he hired Clapper in July 2021 as a computer technician for the Bedford Area School District. N.T. Trial, 4/20/23, at 43. Clapper was 24 years old at that time. Id. at 52. Diehl stated that Clapper’s job duties included “support[ing] students and teachers with technology support[.]” Id. at 44-45. Diehl testified that Clapper worked in both the middle school and high school. Id. at 47. Clapper would be at the middle school in the mornings, and then would go to the high school in the afternoons. Id. Diehl said that Clapper would “work with kids and teachers to make sure their technologies were . . . efficient.” Id. at 45. Diehl stated that each student had an iPad and “if a teacher is having any issues or a student is having issues with their devices the technician would be [the] first line of support so they go into the classroom, help kids or teachers with making sure their devices are efficient, work functioning.” Id. at 48.

Diehl further testified that Clapper provided support to students in an elective class called “student technology assistance program.” Id. at 48-49. There, high school students would gain real-world technology experience, such as learning to do a help desk or design a website. Id. Diehl explained that students who were interested in technology would “work hand in hand with members of the technology department to gain that real work [] experience[.]” Id. at 49. Diehl testified that all members of the school’s tech department, including Clapper, would be supporting the students as they were

learning technology in this class, which involved providing guidance and support to those students. Id. at 49-50.

R.M. testified that in December of 2021, she was 17 years old and a junior at Bedford Area High School. Id. at 54. She stated that she met Clapper in August or September 2021 at Bedford Area High School. Id. at 55. She knew Clapper as the “IT tech person of our school.” Id. at 56. She was also familiar with Clapper since he was friends with her older sisters. Id. at 55. R.M. stated that students at her school ran an Instagram page where they posted funny pictures of people’s shoes. Id. at 56. She said that one day, she took a picture of Clapper’s cowboy boots while they were at a sports practice and posted it on the Instagram page. Id. She testified that after she posted the picture, Clapper contacted her through direct message on Instagram. Id. The two then started communicating through Snapchat. Id. at 57. R.M. said she sometimes saw Clapper at school in an office belonging to a teacher, Ms. Baker. Id. She explained that she was an online student and Ms. Baker oversaw the online school. Id. at 58. R.M. said that she and Clapper would not talk at school except for comments such as, “[H]ey or how’s your day going at school[.]” Id. at 57. The Commonwealth introduced into evidence a spreadsheet showing R.M.’s and Clapper’s Snapchat conversations. Id. at 59- 61. Some of the messages were sexual in nature. Id. at 66, 69, 72.

R.M. testified that on December 23, 2021, her friend, T.C. was at her house. Id. at 73. That evening, T.C. wanted to go hang out with a boy, L.S., so R.M. tried to find someone to hang out with. Id. at 74. R.M. contacted

Clapper through Snapchat and he agreed to meet with her. Id. R.M. testified that she took a marijuana gummy because she was anxious as “it was [her] first time hanging with [Clapper] without anyone else around[.]” Id. at 75. She stated that she made arrangements with Clapper to meet at a trail near the Bedford Springs Resort. Id. at 76. L.S. picked up T.C. and R.M. and drove to the trail. Id. R.M. stated that she sat in L.S.’s vehicle until she saw Clapper pull up in a white Cadillac. Id. at 77. She then got out of L.S.’s vehicle and got into the passenger side of Clapper’s vehicle. Id. R.M. said that L.S. and T.C. left and Clapper then drove R.M. to the Bedford County Airport because Clapper wanted to show R.M. his airplane. Id. at 75, 77-78.

R.M. testified that once they got through the airport’s gate and parked, Clapper put his hand on her inner thigh and leaned over and kissed her. Id. at 79. He then put his hands in her pants and told her to get into the back seat. Id. She said that they then both got into the backseat. Id. R.M. testified that Clapper then took her pants off, kissed her, pulled her on top of him, and had sexual intercourse with her. Id. at 79-80. R.M. testified that while they were having sexual intercourse, T.C. called her and told her she was done hanging out with L.S. Id. at 80. Clapper then drove R.M. back to her house. Id. R.M. could not recall if she told T.C. what happened when they were both back at the house. Id. at 81. The next day, R.M. told her best friend, C.B., what happened. Id. R.M. testified that she did not report the incident to the police or to school officials because she “gave [her] consent and [she] did not want [Clapper] to get in trouble.” Id. However, rumors about the incident

spread around the school and the principal approached her about it. Id. at 82, 104-06. R.M. eventually talked to the Pennsylvania State Police and told them what happened. Id. at 82.

On cross-examination, R.M. testified that Clapper never sent her any inappropriate pictures or asked her for sex. Id. at 90, 93. She agreed with defense counsel that she was trying to have sex with Clapper. Id. at 89. R.M. also confirmed that there was context missing from the Snapchat messages that the Commonwealth introduced. Id. at 91-93. She stated that the marijuana gummy she took on the night of the incident may have affected her recollection of what she told T.C. that night, but she had a clear recollection of what happened with Clapper. Id. at 111, 113.

R.M.’s friend, T.C., testified that on December 23, 2021, she was staying overnight at R.M.’s house. Id. at 117-118. T.C. said that she made plans to see L.S., and R.M. made plans to hang out “with a guy named Jarrod.” Id. at 118-19. T.C. said that R.M. told her that she and Clapper were messaging each other on Instagram, and had “been snapping back and forth” on Snapchat. Id. at 119-20. T.C. recalled that L.S. picked her and R.M. up at R.M.’s house, and then dropped R.M. off near the Bedford Springs Resort. Id. T.C. saw a vehicle there when they dropped R.M. off, but she did not see the person in the vehicle. Id. at 120, 124. T.C. testified that later that night, L.S. dropped her off at R.M.’s house. Id. at 121. She said R.M. was already home and “seemed completely normal” and not under the influence of any drugs. Id. at 121, 125-26.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Com. v. Clapper, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Com. v. Clapper, J. (Com. v. Clapper, J.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Commonwealth v. Champney
832 A.2d 403 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Windslowe
158 A.3d 698 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Miller
172 A.3d 632 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Patterson
180 A.3d 1217 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Sebolka
205 A.3d 329 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
Commonwealth v. Decker
698 A.2d 99 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Commonwealth v. Bowen
55 A.3d 1254 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Commonwealth v. Feliciano
67 A.3d 19 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
Commonwealth v. Mikitiuk
213 A.3d 290 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
Com. v. Fallon, F.
2022 Pa. Super. 92 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022)