CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man who is serving a lengthy state prison sentence for molesting a 10-year-old girl is asking a judge to reconsider his sentence.
Karl Porter, 40, 644 Treasure Lake, DuBois, pleaded guilty in April to 12 counts of aggravated indecent assault of a child and was sentenced by Judge Paul Cherry to a total of 10 to 40 years in state prison.
His attorney, Curtis Irwin, asked Cherry to reconsider the sentence during Tuesday’s motions court. Porter was not in court as he was already transported to state prison. Irwin asked if the discussion on the motion could be continued to allow Porter to take part. Cherry denied that request.
Irwin noted that if Porter serves his entire sentence he would be over 80 years old when he is released. He requested Cherry lower the maximum sentence.
“In essence, this is a life sentence”, Irwin said. He added that because Porter was designated a sexually violent predator, he will have to register his address under Megan’s Law with authorities for the rest of his life and this would protect the public from him if he was released.
When Irwin commented that there “are worse cases than this,” Cherry told him to stop and reminded Irwin that Porter had molested the girl at least 12 times.
Before denying the motion, Cherry stated Porter’s sentence was less than it could have been. Porter could be serving a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the 12 counts.
The charges stem from incidents in Sandy Township beginning in May of 2011. According to the affidavit, police were contacted on Sept. 12 after the victim told her mother she had been touched inappropriately by Porter on several occasions.
The 10-year-old victim told investigators that Porter would come into her room for “prayer time” and lay in bed with her. While there he would touch her private area. She stated the incidents started when she was 9 years old and continued until the night before she told her mother. Porter was always fully clothed but at times he would hold her hand and move it onto his private area. She always pulled her hand away, she said.
In his interview with police, Porter stated he would not harm any children, including the victim. He denied touching her inappropriately except by accident while he was tickling her. But he did admit to police to having a sexual addiction problem.
