Former counselor pleads guilty to sex assault
February 20 , 2007
Adapted from the Pottstown Mercury
A former counselor at a summer camp has admitted having sexual contact with a teenage girl there.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to a felony charge of statutory sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred during the course of two summers in 2004 and 2005.
Under state law, by pleading guilty to the charge, the man admitted that he engaged in sexual contact with a girl who was under the age of 16 and when he was four or more years older than the girl.
According to court documents, at the time some of the sexual contact occurred, the girl was 15 and he was 20.
The open plea means he has no deals with prosecutors regarding his potential punishment.
The judge deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about the man. The judge will use that report to assist him in sentencing him later this year.
The man, who faces a possible maximum sentence of five to 10 years in prison on the charge, remains free on bail pending sentencing.
Other charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor are to be dismissed against him at time of sentencing, according to court papers.
Court documents indicate police began an investigation in 2005 when officials of the county’s Children and Youth Services agency notified them regarding an alleged sexual assault that took place at the camp during the summer of 2005.
Child social service workers told police that a teenage girl told her mother about a number of sexual encounters she had with a camp counselor, according to the arrest affidavit.
The girl subsequently told authorities that she had been at the camp during summers in 2004 and 2005 when she was between 15and 16 years old, court documents indicate.
During her stay at the camp, the girl alleged, the 22-year-old and she engaged in sexual activity at various locations at the camp, both indoors and outdoors, according to the arrest affidavit filed.
Under state law, those under the age of 16 are considered to be incapable of consenting to sex. |
