Nicholas Kerstetter indecently assaulted a girl in May 2011 in Tamaqua, and must forfeit at least 22 months of his freedom because of it, a Schuylkill County judge ruled on Friday.
Kerstetter, 28, of Tamaqua, did not react as President Judge William E. Baldwin sentenced him to serve 22 to 44 months in a state correctional institution, pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, have no contact with his victim, submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities and be subject to Megan's Law sanctions for the rest of his life.
Kerstetter pleaded guilty on Feb. 22 to aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent assault.
Tamaqua police had charged him with indecently assaulting the girl on May 2, 2011, in the borough. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Lehman said the victim was a teenager whom Kerstetter knew.
Lehman said that although the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board concluded Kerstetter is not a sexually violent predator, he still will be subject to lifetime Megan's Law sanctions under Pennsylvania law because one of the crimes to which he pleaded guilty is aggravated indecent assault.
The Megan's Law sanctions to which Kerstetter will be subject include requirements that he report his address, employment and educational statuses, and any change in them, to state police for the rest of his life after he leaves prison. Any failure to comply with those sanctions is a crime in itself and could result in further prosecution.
Megan's Law was enacted in Pennsylvania, numerous other states and at the federal level following the 1994 murder of Megan Nicole Kanka, 7, of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, N.J. Jesse Timmendequas, Kanka's killer, was a convicted sex offender and one of the girl's neighbors.
He is serving a life sentence following then-New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine's commutation of his death sentence after that state abolished its death penalty.Defendant: Nicholas Kerstetter
Age: 28
Residence: Tamaqua
Crimes committed: Aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent assault
Prison sentence: 22 to 44 months in a state correctional institution, plus lifetime Megan's Law sanctions