SMETHPORT – An Eldred man who had sex with a juvenile he met on
the Internet last year was sentenced Thursday in McKean County
Court to spend more than two years in prison.

Robert Cooper, 31, was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 10 years in state
prison and given credit for 283 days of time served for charges of
aggravated indecent assault and statutory sexual assault.

He had been scheduled for sentencing April 27, but instead asked
to withdraw his guilty plea at that time. Cooper told Judge John
Yoder that he was not thinking clearly when he entered the plea,
and that he felt his attorney did not represent him the way in the
manner he wanted.

Yoder took the matter under advisement then, and denied the
motion to withdraw the plea prior to sentencing on Thursday. Yoder
said he found that Cooper had given “no fair and just reason” while
he should be permitted to withdraw his plea.

“At no time has he said he wasn’t guilty,” Yoder said, adding
Cooper had admitted having sex with the juvenile to police and to
probation officers.

Cooper had been having Internet discussions with a 14-year-old
female and in the spring of 2005, tracked her down and had sex with
her while her parents were not home.

The victim’s mother was present at the sentencing Thursday, and
read a letter from her daughter. In the letter, the girl talked
about getting pregnant by Cooper and that she had been taken
advantage of by an adult she should have been able to trust.

Assistant District Attorney Christa Schott told Yoder that since
Cooper had pled to charges in the case in January, state police
have found that he had been having sex with another 15-year-old
female who also became pregnant.

“There’s a societal protection concern here,” Schott said,
calling Cooper’s behavior “beyond belief.”

Before imposing the sentence, Yoder said that Cooper had a
previous statutory sexual assault charge in his past.

“You seem to be unable to refrain from having sex with minors,”
Yoder told Cooper before remanding him to state prison.

As a Megan’s Law offender, Cooper must register his address with
the state police for the rest of his life.

Before leaving the courtroom in the custody of Sheriff Brad
Mason, Cooper asked Yoder to appoint an attorney to represent him
for post-sentence matters in the case. His previous attorney,
Public Defender Ron Langella, was granted permission to withdraw
from the case because Cooper was not satisfied with his
representation.