The Lehigh County criminal justice system delivered a lengthy sentence this week in a domestic assault case that began with a December 2024 call to police and ended with months of courtroom wrangling over witness cooperation.
Sentence follows conviction on strangulation and related counts
A judge ordered 10 to 20 years in state prison for a 31-year-old Allentown man found guilty of strangling the mother of his child and then attempting to keep her from testifying, the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said. The defendant, identified in court records as Dallas Young, was convicted April 1 on a felony count of strangulation and on lesser counts of simple assault, harassment and witness intimidation.
The assault that led to the charges occurred on Dec. 11, 2024, according to police reports filed by Upper Macungie Township officers who responded to a domestic disturbance. The victim told investigators that an argument with Young escalated into violence and that he choked her, lifting her off the ground twice. She also reported being struck in the face, leaving bruising and swelling. Part of the incident was recorded by the victim on her cellphone and was used in the investigation.
Repeated phone calls from jail after arrest
Prosecutors say the pattern did not end with Young’s arrest. After he was taken to the Lehigh County Jail, Young repeatedly contacted the victim by phone and urged her not to participate in the case. The DA’s statement noted an investigation uncovered approximately 1,200 phone calls between Young and the victim while he was in custody — a volume of contacts that raised questions because jail policy bars inmates from contacting their victims.
"Don't come to court," the defendant told the victim, according to the district attorney's office.
That pressure, prosecutors said, was aimed at keeping the victim away from court. The woman ultimately refused to cooperate with the prosecution and did not appear to testify at trial. Still, the jury returned guilty verdicts on the counts brought against Young, and the sentence imposed this week reflected the seriousness of the strangulation charge and the added offense of witness intimidation.
- Date of assault: Dec. 11, 2024
- Conviction date: April 1, 2026
- Sentence: 10–20 years in state prison
| Charge | Result |
|---|---|
| Strangulation (felony) | Guilty |
| Simple assault | Guilty (lesser charge) |
| Harassment | Guilty (lesser charge) |
| Witness intimidation | Guilty (lesser charge) |
The case underscores a familiar dilemma in domestic-violence prosecutions: victims who are also family members often face pressure, fear and practical obstacles to participating in criminal proceedings. In this matter, prosecutors pursued charges and secured convictions despite the victim's noncooperation.
Local context and consequences
For neighbors in Allentown and surrounding Lehigh County communities, the sentence is a reminder of both the physical dangers of intimate-partner violence and the challenges courts face when victims are reluctant or unable to testify. The DA’s office emphasized the jail-phone records as part of its evidence of obstruction, pointing to the limits of institutional safeguards when contact between an incarcerated defendant and a victim occurs through repeated calls.
Lehigh County's handling of the case — from the Upper Macungie Township police response to the conviction and sentence — will likely prompt continued attention from domestic-violence advocates and local officials who monitor protections for victims. While the court's decision removes an alleged abuser from the community for a substantial period, it does not erase the trauma documented by bruises, a cellphone recording and the subsequent outreach from jail.
The sentence also raises procedural questions about how jails monitor outbound communications and enforce restrictions intended to shield victims. Local law enforcement and the county jail maintain policies that inmates should not contact their victims; prosecutors cited the recorded call log when alleging witness intimidation.
As the Allentown community absorbs the case's outcome, the underlying facts — a December assault, a recorded incident on a cellphone, hundreds of jail calls and a jury conviction — remain concrete markers of a violent episode that produced a lengthy state prison term.
