Joseph Curry engaged in sexual activity with a boy, and will pay for his crimes with at least seven years of his freedom, plus lifetime Megan's Law sanctions, a Schuylkill County judge decided Friday.
Curry, 37, of Schuylkill Haven, must serve seven to 20 years in a state correctional institution, Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin ruled Friday.
Dolbin's sentence, which was part of a plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant, also requires Curry to pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.
Also, Dolbin ruled prosecutors had proved Curry is a sexually violent predator and thereby subject to Megan's Law sanctions for the rest of his life.
"He does meet statutory criteria" for being classified as a sexually violent predator, since he suffers from a mental abnormality - pedophilia - and engaged in a pattern of predatory behavior, Veronique N. Valliere, a Fogelsville psychologist and member of the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, testified.
On Nov. 21, 2011, Curry, who declined to speak during Friday's hearing, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, endangering the welfare of children, indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent exposure. Prosecutors dropped an additional count of aggravated indecent assault, plus two of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one each of rape of a child and recklessly endangering another person.
Assistant District Attorney Michael A. O'Pake said the mother of the victim approved of the plea agreement.
Schuylkill Haven borough police charged Curry with sexually assaulting the boy beginning on Jan. 1, 2007, in the borough. The sexual abuse started when the boy was 4 years old and continued for four years until he was 8 years old, prosecutors said.
Valliere testified that Curry will suffer from pedophilia for the rest of his life.
"It is considered a lifelong condition that cannot be cured," she said.
Testifying for Curry, Dr. Larry A. Rotenberg, a West Reading psychiatrist, said he will need to be in protective custody while in prison.
"He's a very weak, vulnerable and inadequate person," Rotenberg said.
As imposed by Dolbin, Curry's prison time consists of four consecutive sentences of five to 10 years, one to seven years, nine to 24 months and three to 12 months.
After the sentencing hearing, O'Pake said the victim is coping as best he can with what occurred.
"The family has indicated he is going through counseling, struggling to deal with this," O'Pake said. "He's doing as well as can be expected."
Because Curry pleaded guilty but mentally ill, he will receive treatment for his illness and then, when he is deemed cured, will serve the balance of his sentence behind bars.
Pennsylvania and many other states enacted the guilty but mentally ill plea in the 1980s after John Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity of trying to assassinate President Ronald W. Reagan in 1981.
The Megan's Law sanctions imposed on Curry 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. 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: Joseph Curry
Age: 37
Residence: Schuylkill Haven
Crimes committed: Aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, endangering the welfare of children, indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent exposure
Prison sentence: Seven to 20 years in a state correctional institution, plus lifetime Megan's Law sanctions