CLEARFIELD – A Morrisdale man charged with having sex with a 14-year-old girl, pleaded guilty Thursday during sentencing court.
Christian Zane Bailor, 20, was originally charged by state police with felony counts of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with person less than 16 years old, as well as misdemeanor indecent assault person less than 16 years old and corruption of minors in connection with an incident at a Morris Township home on March 3, 2023.
Bailor pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony count of corruption of minors and misdemeanor involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with person less than 16 years old. Judge Paul E. Cherry sentenced him to serve four to eight months in the county jail with three years consecutive probation.
He must complete sex offender counseling and was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 16.
Although he was not classified as a sexually-violent predator, he must still register with authorities under Megan’s Law.
Prior to sentencing, Bailor’s attorney, Daniel Nelson, noted that this was a “wake-up call” for Bailor, who has taken responsibility for his actions. He will have to live with the consequences for a long time, he added.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the parents of the girl told police that they had received information from someone who said the girl had messaged a friend saying she had sex with a friend’s neighbor. This then 19-year-old man was later identified as Bailor.
The girl told investigators that she was visiting a friend’s home and Bailor, who she thought was attractive, was invited to join them.
While the two were alone in a bedroom, he asked her if she wanted to have sex and she told him yes, she reported. Bailor told her he was 17 years old, and she told him she was 14 years old before they committed the act, she said.
When questioned, Bailor originally denied being at the residence, saying he was at home playing games with a friend when the assault occurred.
In a later interview, he confessed to being at the home and having sex with the girl whom he thought was 16 years old or older. Bailor said he understood that even though the sex was consensual, because she was not 16, “it falls under the statutory rape thing.”
Eventually, he admitted that no one told him she was 16. He did tell her he was 17 years old, but she didn’t say her age, and he didn’t ask, he told investigators.
Near the conclusion of the interview, he stated that he should have known or asked her age prior to having sex with her.
He disclosed that he started to ask himself “how old is this girl?” She looked older, he stated but the way she “acted and kissed made him think she was about 15,” according to the criminal complaint.