by peter e. bortner
Joshua Thurman, who cut his girlfriend's throat with a box cutter in January at their Hubley Township home, is headed to state prison after being sentenced Tuesday in Schuylkill County Court.
"The actions that you committed could have been deadly," Judge Jacqueline L. Russell told Thurman, 25, of Spring Glen, shortly before ordering him to spend 40 to 80 months in a state correctional institution, plus two additional years on probation.
Having Thurman sent away provided some comfort to Natalie Barr, Thurman's victim, who said the incident has been particularly hard on her 12-year-old son.
"He's scared to be by himself," Barr testified Tuesday. "He wakes up during the night."
The assault also changed her life, Barr said.
"Every door is locked," she said. "It's very hard."
After a two-day trial, a jury of nine men and three women convicted Thurman on June 6 of two counts each of aggravated assault and simple assault and one each of recklessly endangering another person and possession of drug paraphernalia, while acquitting him of charges of attempted homicide and terroristic threats. The jury also decided that the box cutter Thurman used was a deadly weapon.
State police at Schuylkill Haven had charged Thurman with cutting Barr's throat and punching her Jan. 18 on the front porch of the apartment building where they lived.
Thurman, who had testified at his trial that he remembered hitting Barr but not cutting her throat, told Russell that he wanted a chance to be part of his daughter's life.
Thurman must also must pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, perform 100 hours community service and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities under the terms of Russell's sentence.