CLEARFIELD – A Houtzdale man accused of sexually assaulting two girls pleaded guilty to lesser charges Monday.
Police say Herman Tom Custred, 60, assaulted a seven-year-old girl in Gulich Township sometime between April 2017 and 2019, and a 12-year-old girl in Clearfield in 2018.
Custred was sentenced to time-served, or eight months to two years less one day in the county jail for felony corruption of minors in each case.
He must also serve five years concurrent probation and was ordered to complete sex-offender counseling. He is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with any juvenile females.
Following an evaluation, it was determined that he is not a sexually-violent predator, but he still must register with authorities under Megan’s Law.
Originally he was also charged with felony counts of aggravated indecent assault of child, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with minor and sexual assault.
According to the affidavit in the first incident, the victim reported that she was camping with her brother, another boy and Custred when the assault occurred. She couldn’t remember specifically where they were, but said it was a campground and they were sleeping in a camper. The boys were in one bed and she and Custred were in the other bed.
While they were in bed, he reportedly put his hand down her pants and touched her private area. She stated that she was seven or eight-years-old at the time.
According to the affidavit in the second case, the girl told police that initially Custred made inappropriate comments about her while she was in his apartment, causing her to leave.
This was confirmed by an old police report filed in January 2018 after the mother told officers that Custred was making lewd comments about her daughter.
When confronted, Custred denied making any inappropriate remarks, but was warned by police to stop his behavior. The victim’s mother did not want to file any charges at that point.
At another time when the victim was in Custred’s apartment, he reportedly pulled her nightgown over her head and sexually assaulted her with a hair brush.
She explained to police that she struggled during the attack, but Custred told her not to move or he would “make it worse.”
When she later told her mother who she said was often under the influence of controlled substances, her mother responded with “Ok, and?”
A Childline referral from February 2024 involving another incident led to the girl who is seeing a therapist, to talk about the assault.
The investigation by police revealed that in 2004 Custred had been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on four occasions in 1999. This victim stated that she told her mother, but she did not believe her. These charges were later withdrawn.
In his interview with authorities, Custred claimed the three girls were working together to “ruin his life.”
