Philly ward leader convicted of sexually assaulting his granddaughter is sentenced to about a month in jail

A West Philadelphia Democratic ward leader who resigned after being convicted of sexually assaulting a minor will spend about a month in jail, rather than the years prosecutors had sought, a judge ruled Thursday.

Stephen Jones, 80, was sentenced in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to three to four weeks in jail, about the time it will take to be processed for the 20 years of house arrest he was also ordered to serve, in a hearing where harrowing details that had previously gone unreported about the case came to light.

In 2023, Jones was arrested for molesting his granddaughter at home while they were watching a Disney movie, according to prosecutors.

Jones formerly led the city’s 59th Ward and was once closely tied with the nonprofit Philadelphia Alliance Against Drugs and Violence, though he has not been involved with the group for about a decade, he said.

In February, a jury convicted Jones on four charges including aggravated indecent assault of a person under 13, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor, and indecent assault of a person under 13. An earlier trial last May ended in a mistrial, with one juror dissenting.

While the conviction has seemingly torn apart Jones’ family — during the sentencing Thursday, the victim’s mother rose from the court gallery, screaming and hurling expletives at Jones as he silently stared ahead — it had also driven a wedge into the Democratic primary race for Philadelphia district attorney.

Shortly after Jones’ resignation, candidate Pat Dugan accused his opponent, incumbent District Attorney Larry Krasner, of knowingly seeking Jones’ endorsement at a ward event — a claim Krasner, who won Tuesday’s primary, vehemently denied.

By the time Jones appeared in the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman, the politics and mudslinging surrounding the case had taken a back seat.

There prosecutors sought a 16-year prison sentence for Jones that would have guaranteed that the former ward leader spend the rest of his life behind bars.

“He took away her innocence, he took away her bodily autonomy, he took away her privacy, he took away her trust in others,” said Assistant District Attorney Kelsey Gimaro in reference to the victim.

Brandeis-Roman — while deriding Jones’ actions and calling the victim, who is a minor, a “hero” — ultimately did not heed that request.

In sentencing Jones primarily to house arrest and a year of probation as opposed to the years of jail time as requested, Brandeis-Roman told the court that she was factoring Jones’ advanced age and his diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer as well as other health ailments.

However, “this court is well aware of the damage that this kind of act does to the victims,” Brandeis-Roman said.

Heavy emotion soon spilled over in the sparsely attended courtroom; upon hearing the ruling, the victim’s mother — whom the Inquirer is not identifying to protect the victim’s identity — burst into tears. She was later allowed to approach the bench.

“This man has destroyed my daughter’s life,” the woman yelled in Jones’ direction. “He harmed my kid.”

The woman told the court her daughter had to change schools and experienced suicidal ideation after Jones molested her. The girl was not present in the courtroom.

“You’re a bully — you stand behind that ward leader position,” the woman continued to yell at Jones. “You are sick, you are a freak.”

Jones’ private defense attorney, Vincent M. Lorusso, had earlier offered brief remarks to Brandeis-Roman about his client’s character, citing a “deluge of letters” written by members of the community in support of Jones and his “long status in the community.”

Gimaro, during her remarks, took to shredding that notion.

“There are two Stephen Jones,” the prosecutor said. “The community leader, the man who donates money, volunteers with children,” and the Jones who is “sexually attracted to children.”

Gimaro cast Jones as “power hungry” and a “liar” who took “no accountability” for his actions, providing conflicting statements about the assault to prosecutors and claiming that it was the victim who had come onto him.

Meanwhile, Gimaro described Jones deceptively clinging to his political position despite his conviction.

With Jones in charge, the 59th Ward hosted a meet-and-greet for political candidates which Krasner attended, spurring Dugan’s allegation.

Krasner said he had been unaware of Jones’ conviction at the time and “made no connection between that and any of the 30,000 new cases we have every year.”

Brandeis-Roman told the court that as she began reading briefings for the sentencing, she had not known that Jones had been a ward leader.

“I do not give him a pass in any way, shape or form” for the assault, she said in justifying the ruling. “But in front of me is an 80-year-old man who takes 14 medicines, who is undergoing chemotherapy, and who has zero prior record.”

The victim’s mother was more blunt in her assessment of Jones.

“I hope the devil comes to you,” she said.