CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man accused of having sex with a mentally disabled woman pleaded guilty Friday.
After a hearing that determined Joseph Brian Himes, 34, is a sexually violent predator, President Judge Fredric Ammerman sentenced Himes to a total of 48 months to 20 years in state prison for aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault and indecent assault.
The evaluation determined Himes suffers from a paraphilic disorder, according to expert psychologist William G. Allenbaugh II, who testified in the hearing.
Ammerman noted that the recommendation of the probation office for Himes’s sentence had only a 10-year maximum, but he decided to give him a longer sentence to “protect the public.”
Online court records show that Himes was convicted of misdemeanor indecent assault in April of 2005 in Potter County.
He was also charged in Potter County with indecent assault in 2004 but was found not guilty by a jury in that case.
Himes will have to register with authorities under Megan’s Law.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, in February of 2018, the victim’s mother returned home to find her daughter’s bedroom door closed.
When she knocked and tried to open it, she realized someone was holding it shut. She used such force to open the door that the door jamb became dislodged from the wall.
A man hurriedly left the room and said his name was Joe. The victim identified the man as the one with a Facebook profile named “Joe Wad.”
The victim told her mother they had sex, but she didn’t want to do it.
After police arrived, she was taken for a sexual assault examination that showed she had suffered internal trauma. DNA swabs were also taken as evidence.
As part of the investigation, the victim was interviewed by an expert at the Child Advocacy Center of Clearfield County where she indicated that the sexual encounter was not consensual.
In the opinion of the interviewer, the victim was not capable of consenting even if there was consent at the time of the assault.
A further background check on the victim revealed that she was intellectually disabled and had a low IQ.
When Himes was questioned by police, he admitted the profile “Joe Wad” was his and said he knew the victim. He denied having sex with her saying “No. It would be wrong.”
