By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER

marcie@bradfordera.com

The appeal of a Duke Center man of his 22- to 44-year sentence for rape of a child and for child pornography has been denied by the state Superior Court.

Sebastian Vancamp, 24, who was found to be a sexually violent predator, will remain incarcerated in state prison.

A decision posted Wednesday, written by Superior Court Judge Tamika Lane, also permitted the withdrawal of McKean County Public Defender Phil Clabaugh from the case on the grounds that no legitimate grounds for appeal existed.

VanCamp challenged the SVP designation and his sentence of 22 to 44 years, plus three years probation, in the appeal.

He had been convicted of charges including rape for a two-year ‘relationship’ that started with a female when she was 11 years old. The victim testified that she had told an adult about it two years later.

When VanCamp was interviewed by state police, he said he and the victim were ‘dating,’ the court’s memorandum reads. He was convicted of two counts of rape of a child, two counts of statutory sexual assault, five counts of indecent assault and one count of corruption of minors.

In the other case, he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography for possessing and viewing 312 images and videos of indecent contact. In a second count, he pleaded guilty to possessing and viewing 933 images and videos that did not depict indecent contact.

He was found to be a sexually violent predator with an ‘unspecified paraphilic disorder’ who was likely to engage in the same activity again, the memorandum reads.

He was sentenced to a total term of 22 to 44 years with three years of probation. He is required to register with state police for the rest of his life.

VanCamp filed a Post-Sentence Rights motion, asking that the two rape charges, for which he had been sentenced to 10 years each, run together instead of back to back.

The motion was denied without a hearing.

He then filed for appeal, while Clabaugh filed an Anders brief with the court. That is a brief that indicates the attorney found no merit in the client’s arguments to appeal, and wishes to withdraw from the case.

Lane wrote in the memorandum that VanCamp’s sentence was upheld by the evidence presented; that the trial judge, John Pavlock, held discretion over the sentence in the case and did not abuse that discretion; and that the evidence supported the designation of sexually violent predator.

The judgment of sentence was affirmed.