Meet the GOP front-runner in the race to replace retiring Rep. John Peterson (R-PA):

Fifth Congressional District front-runner Derek Walker was charged Thursday with two felonies and four misdemeanors in connection with an incident last August at his former girl friend's house in Clearfield.

Walker said this morning before the charges were filed that Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw Jr. had been pressured to file the charges less than a week before the primary election by Walker's chief rival for the Republcan nomination, State College businessman Matt Shaner.

Asked why the charges against Walker were filed today, Shaw said: "We finished our investigation yesterday -- we got the last two statements yesterday."

The criminal complaint, filed in District Judge Richard Ireland's Clearfield office, charges Walker with burglary and criminal trespass, both felonies, and the misdemeanors criminal attempt, invasion of privacy, disorderly conduct and stalking.

The complaint, filed by Clearfield police Chief Jeffrey Rhone and signed by Shaw, accuses Walker of using his cell phone to videotape a former girlfriend in an intimate moment with another man on Aug. 25, 2007. The complaint also alleges that he had contact with her on two other occasions, despite being told by a police officer on Aug. 25 that he should avoid further contact and that charges were pending.

[Thanks to TPM Reader MM for the tip.]