SMETHPORT — A Bradford man was resentenced Thursday in McKean County Court for allegations of having unlawful contact with a minor.
A resentencing date for Gerald W. Pope, 46, was granted when the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the original sentence he received in 2014 was illegal.
Pope was resentenced Thursday before President Judge John Pavlock to a state prison term of 16 months to a maximum of five years and three months. He has credit for 1,906 days of time served — less than two weeks shy of his maximum of five years and three months.
Additionally, Pope must now register as a sex offender for 25 years.
At his March 2014 trial, a jury found Pope guilty of unlawful contact with a minor, charged as a first-degree felony; and corruption of minors, a third-degree felony. He was acquitted on charges alleging involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, a first-degree felony; and other charges.
In response to an appeal filed by the defense, the Superior Court ruled that it was illegal for Pope’s sentence to reflect a first-degree felony charge of unlawful contact with a minor. Instead, it should have been graded as a third-degree felony, which would lower the sentencing range, according to the ruling.
Pope was originally sentenced to five years and two months to 10 years and four months in prison. He was found guilty in a jury trial in March of unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a minor. Also, he was originally ordered to register for his lifetime.
According to the criminal complaint originally filed in the case, Pope made a teenage girl perform sex acts in exchange for permission to see her boyfriend.
