CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man is facing multiple charges for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls.
Justin James Centra, 39, was charged by Lawrence Township police with two felony counts each of aggravated indecent assault of a child, three counts of corruption of minors, as well as misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and terroristic threats.
He is currently housed in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
An investigation into the assault of a 12-year-old girl on Monday reportedly led to evidence that Centra had also sexually assaulted another girl repeatedly starting when she was 10 years old.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the first victim was staying overnight with a friend at Centra’s residence in Lawrence Township when she awoke around 3 a.m. because someone was touching her.
She saw Centra kneeling beside the bed. He was reportedly trying to get into her pants, touching her private area outside of her pants and rubbing her legs. She said she tried to act as if she were still asleep and rolled over to stop him.
The girl was able to send a message to a nearby friend asking if her mother could pick her up and take her home. She told them to park up the street so Centra would not see them.
As she was putting on her shoes and running out of the home, Centra came to the door asking her to come back multiple times.
Police were able to obtain the messages between the victim who said she would explain later and her friend.
When the girl got home, her mother was awakened by their dogs barking and asked why she was home. She only said she never wanted to go back to that residence.
Eventually the victim told her mother what had happened and explained how she got home. Her mother contacted authorities.
When the mother spoke with police, she stated that Centra has anger issues. She went on to say that some people are afraid of Centra and what he might do because he has firearms at his home.
Once the victim’s friend learned what had happened, she reportedly text-messaged the victim saying Centra had been sexually assaulting her for years.
The victim’s friend, now victim 2, was then questioned at the Child Advocacy Center in Clearfield.
In this interview, she stated that the first time Centra assaulted her was in December when she was 10 years old. There were additional incidents of him touching her and making her touch him, according to authorities.
This victim reported he had been abusive to her for years and on multiple occasions would strike her, push her into a wall and throw things at her.
The criminal complaint notes that Centra had prior arrests for domestic incidents, one which involved victim 2 who had suffered a golf ball-sized lump on her head.
Centra’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.
