Man sentenced for assaulting disabled woman
May 21 , 2007
Adapted from the Bucks County Courier Times
A man was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state prison for sexually assaulting a woman with mental disabilities last year.
The 19-year-old pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a person with disabilities.
The victim, a 24-year-old woman who has the mental capacity of a 5- to 7-year-old, told police she was sitting on the swings at a playground last summer when the man approached her. He forced her into a wooded area and sexually assaulted her.
After the assault, prosecutors said, he pushed the victim into a patch of poison ivy. She told her parents about the assault a week later, after being taken to the hospital with a severe poison ivy infection.
The man apologized before the judge announced the sentence.
“I realize I can't do this no more. I can't live this life no more. I just want you to know that I'm done with this life,” he told the judge.
The victim and her family moved away from the area after the assault. They did not attend the sentencing.
“They did not want their daughter to have to come in here and see him today,” said the chief deputy district attorney.
The man's attorney said his client is borderline mentally retarded, although he was not ruled incompetent to stand trial.
As a convicted sex offender, the 24-year-old will be registered with police under Megan's Law for the remainder of his life. A state panel did not find that he was a sexually violent predator, so his neighbors will not be alerted when he returns to the community. |
