Trigger Warning: This article contains references to sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing.
A Pennsylvania groom was accused of s*xual assault after a wedding guest came forward to the police, according to court documents.
The groom, 38-year-old Zachary Prouty, was arrested on multiple criminal charges, including r*pe and s*xual assault.
According to a police report, the investigation dates back to 2025. On October 17, 2025, Bonneauville Borough officers met with a woman who had undergone s*xual assault examination at Gettysburg Hospital. The anonymous survivor said she attended Prouty’s wedding the previous evening, according to court documents.
She drank alcohol and had planned to stay overnight at a residence in Gettysburg alongside several other wedding guests.
According to police, the victim and the groom were left alone at the residence after the other guests went to sleep. The victim stated that Prouty began kissing her without her consent while they were sitting on a couch.
The woman claimed that the groom followed her into a separate room and forced himself on her. She subsequently lost consciousness. She woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar room and saw her clothes scattered on the floor.
Suspecting she had been s*xually assaulted, she went directly to Gettysburg Hospital for an evaluation, as reported by Fox43.
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The law enforcement contacted Prouty following the victim’s complaint. However, he refused to comply and declined to give a statement. Investigators have since managed to obtain a DNA sample from the groom and submitted it for forensic analysis.
Authorities allege that the groom’s DNA sample matches the forensic evidence gathered during the victim’s hospital examination. According to the test, the DNA profile was “approximately 95 billion times more likely to have originated” from Prouty compared to a random person.
Prouty made a court appearance on July 16 and was subsequently released after posting a $50,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court for his next hearing on August 12.
According to the Irish Star, citing a wedding website, the wedding was scheduled for October 18. “It was a beautiful wedding, I am so happy for you!” the bride’s aunt wrote on the website.
As the case continues to gain traction, netizens are divided over the allegations made against the groom. While some feel that the bond was not enough, others have expressed doubts over the claims made by the victim.
“She let him in her room without alerting the others in the house & decided to fall asleep without her clothes on with him in the room? No scratches on him? No noises made? This sounds like regret, not r*pe,” wrote one user on Instagram.
A separate comment read, “I actually looked into this… It was a lot more like regret NOT r*pe.”
A third one expressed worry for the newlywed wife: “Hope the wife got that marriage annulled.”
Another netizen hoped for a harsher punishment for the assailant and wrote, “I would say divorce this dude and yes longer jail time.”
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr individually could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public video record.
