CLEARFIELD – Two men filed motions in unrelated cases asking Judge Paul Cherry to reconsider their long state prison sentences. These motions were discussed in court Tuesday.
Matthew Joseph Brubaker, 33, Munson, was one of three men who pleaded guilty to having sex with various animals on their farm in April and was sentenced to 20 to 41 years in state prison.
At the time of sentencing, Cherry commented that this was “one of the most disgusting, despicable courses of conduct I’ve ever seen,” while District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. commented that the videos the men made of their illegal acts “burned my corneas and will live with me the rest of my life.”
During motions court Tuesday, his attorney, Ryan Sayers, argued that his client had never been in trouble before and was a “productive member of society” because he had a job, paid his taxes and did “normal” things.
Cherry asked if it was “normal” for Brubaker to subject a child to their behavior on the farm. Sayers responded that the child was not exposed to all 700 counts.
“The sentence was imposed in the interest of justice,” Cherry said before he denied the motion.
An additional motion to allow Brubaker to have contact with the children in his immediate family was granted to the point that now he is allowed supervised contact with those under the age of 18.
Robert Lee Lannen Jr., 52, Morrisdale, was sentenced to a total of eight to 16 years in state prison for nine felony counts of disseminate photo/film of child sex acts, 40 felony counts of child pornography and one felony count of criminal use of communication facility in May.
Lannen’s attorney, Steven Johnston stated that the law does not concern itself with why Lannen had the pornography, but he wanted to explain why he seeks it out.
He went on to explain that Lannen suffers from life-long pedophiliac disorder because of trauma he suffered as a child.
Lannen has not been a sexual predator and has never acted out on his impulses. He had child pornography because it was a simple matter of “getting sexual gratification from it,” Johnston stated and he did not intend to share it on the Internet.
“This does not make his actions more acceptable, but it does affect whether he can be rehabilitated,” Johnston said.
Lannen realizes that he could have received a longer sentence, but is asking for a chance to prove he is amendable to rehabilitation, Johnston said.
He then asked that Lannen’s sentence be lowered to four to eight years, which would still give him a chance to complete programs and counseling related to his problem.
Assistant District Attorney Jendi Schwab responded to this request by saying the sentence was appropriate for his charges especially because it was his second offense.
Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to felony possession of child pornography in 2005 in Centre County.
Cherry stated he felt the sentence was reasonable, adding that he did not think a minimum four-year sentence would be enough to complete rehabilitation.
Cherry then denied the motion.
