Greensburg man convicted in sex assaults on children gets up to 100 years
A Greensburg man convicted three times for sexual assaults against children was sentenced this week to serve up to 100 years in prison.
Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway called 58-year-old Kenneth Richie a danger to society when she imposed two consecutive mandatory sentences of 25 to 50 years against him on Thursday.
“It just makes me sick, and I want to do anything within my power to make sure that you never have the opportunity to hurt another child or another young teenager, another adult, anybody,” Hathaway said.
Richie pleaded guilty in May to nine counts, including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and terroristic threats. The prosecution dismissed 12 other offenses.
Greensburg police said Richie developed a friendship with a teenager and in April 2011, took the youth to his home under the guise of cleaning his basement.
Richie undressed to his boxers, forced the boy to disrobe, grabbed his neck and raped him, Greensburg police said.
According to court records, Richie paid the youth $6.50 after the rape for “being a good victim” and later threatened the teen's life. Police said the boy was able to describe Richie's home, including the furniture in his bedroom, a cross and a picture of Jesus
In court on Thursday, Richie pleaded for leniency.
“I know I sinned before God and man, woman and child. If the victim was here today, I would ask (him) to be kind enough to forgive me the things I've done wrong,” Richie said.
Defense attorney Jim Robinson said that he will appeal Richie's sentence on the grounds that it is excessive.
Robinson said Richie deserves a shorter sentence because he suffers from mental health issues and his prior convictions occurred long before his last offense.
According to court records, Richie was convicted in 1979 of having sexual contact with an 11-year-old boy and served a three- to six-year prison sentence. In 1983, Richie was convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl and was sentenced to 3 1⁄2 to eight years in prison.
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
