An admitted child rapist who spent years molesting a preteen girl was rightly labeled a sexually violent predator, a state Superior Court panel has ruled.
The decision, outlined in an opinion issued this week by President Judge Emeritus John T. Bender, shoots down Kenneth Elwood Spriggle's challenge to the predator designation slapped on him by a Snyder County judge.
Spriggle, now 48, of Selinsgrove, pleaded guilty in July 2014 to child rape charges and is serving a 12- to 40-year state prison sentence. He only challenged his sex predator designation on appeal, however.
As Bender noted, state police said Spriggle admitted to molesting the girl when troopers confronted him. The girl said Spriggle began sexually abusing her just before she turned 9 years old and continued until right before her 13th birthday.
Bender found that county Judge Michael T. Hudock was right to accept an assessment by a psychologist from the state Sexual Offender Assessment Board that Spriggle is a pedophile whose cultivation of a sexual relationship with the victim constituted predatory behavior.
The sex predator designation means Spriggle will have to register with state police for life, and they will tell his neighbors about his crimes. He also will have to undergo lifetime sex offender counseling. ..Source.. by Matt Miller
No comments:
Post a Comment
We use the Disqus Commenting system, please wait for it to load. Also, comments are moderated, please stick to the issue of the post, as we are trying to have an intelligent, relevant discussion which develops the post. Comments deviating from topic of post will not be posted. Thanks