A Williamsport man convicted of criminal attempt – trafficking in individuals, conspiracy – trafficking in individuals, and other charges will receive a new trial after it came to light that prosecuting attorney Korrin Moon was married to an expert witness who testified in the February 2025 trial, Lycoming County Judge Ryan Tira ruled in late April.

On Feb. 25, Allen Arthur Frazier, 41, was found guilty of the charges, along with possession of a controlled substance, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors in his attempts to trade drugs, money and other goods in exchange for sexual favors from two minor victims, aged 12 and 16-years-old.

Both victims testified that on one occasion while at an apartment belonging to J. Gibbs and V. Booth, Frazier tried to enter a bedroom through a locked door, before knocking and asking the girls to perform a sex act on him for $20.

So traumatized were the girls from the encounter that they fled the house, resulting in the 16-year-old falling and scraping her knee.

Gibbs and Booth later approached both victims and asked if the 16-year-old would be willing to hang out with Frazier in exchange for money. The girls were told nothing sexual would happen, other than possibly some kissing, the victims said. Both declined.

Also testifying at the trial was Clinton Gardner, a former law enforcement officer and regional director for Lantern Rescue, a non-profit organization that seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking. The organization was founded and headed by Moon.

Having previous involvement in 50 to 100 human trafficking cases, including Frazier’s, Gardner was established as an expert witness for the proceedings.

Shortly after the trial, however, Deats was made aware that Moon and Gardner were in a marital relationship, and subsequently filed a motion seeking a new trial, according to court documents.

In the motion, Deats argued that the failure of Moon to disclose her relationship with Gardner violated her duties as set forth under the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Brady v. Maryland. That ruling found that the suppression or concealment of exculpatory or impeaching evidence favorable to a defendant by the government violates their due process rights.

Deats also argued that the relationship created a conflict of interest, as Gardner had investigated the defendant Moon was charged with prosecuting, “creating a clear bias or prejudice that undermines the fairness of the trial,” motion said.

Moon took the stand at an April 9 hearing on the matter before Tira, and testified that she had not had a specific conversation with Deats disclosing the marriage, but that she believed knowledge of the union was common, court documents said.

She further states that not only do the pair have social media photos depicting their wedding, but that Deats was “in the vicinity” as she spoke about her marriage to “Clint” with a different attorney.

If one were to put her name in a search engine, one of the top results would be the wedding registry created by the two, as well as an advertised announcement containing both of their names.

In relation to her work with Lantern Rescue, Moon testified that a simple Google search would have revealed her role as the organization’s founder and president.

To that end, First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade argued that it was defense counsel’s “affirmative obligation to inspect the credentials of expert witnesses,” and had Deats done so, the relationship would’ve been discovered, the Judge’s ruling said.

“The Commonwealth further argued that no information regarding this relationship was concealed; and, in fact, counsel for the defendant could have conducted a few searches to reveal the relationship between the parties and attorney Moon’s role in Lantern Rescue to impeach the expert witness,” court documents said, adding that it is the defense that bears the burden of determining if certain evidence could undermine the fairness of a trial, and in turn, the verdict of the jury.

Tira however, found that while there was no intentional misleading of the defense, because Moon practices law under her maiden name, there would be no obvious signs to point to a relationship between Moon and Gardner, which created an “inadvertent concealment” due to Deats not being a local attorney, his order said.

Despite Wade’s argument that the relation could have been easily discovered, Deats “had no reason to be looking for evidence of a marital relationship between the prosecution and a witness,” due to the professional nature of the interaction between Moon and Gardner during the trial, Tira said in his ruling.

Finding on that basis alone that Frazier was eligible for a new trial, Tira declined to rule on the conflict of interest argument.

As of the time of publication, Frazier remains incarcerated at the Lycoming County Prison.