Centre County man gets 50 to 100 years in prison for sexual abuse of children
A Centre County man received a state prison sentence Friday that could be tantamount to life for the sexual abuse of four children.
Kenneth M. Yerger, 28, of Ferguson Township, was sentenced by Clinton County Judge Michael F. Salisbury to 50 to 100 years in prison. He received credit for a year and nine months served in the Clinton County Correctional Facility.
Yerger was classified by Salisbury as a sexually violent predator, meaning he must register as a sex offender and undergo mandatory sex offender counseling for the rest of his life. It’s the highest designation of sex offender registration in Pennsylvania.
A Clinton County jury found him guilty in August of all 58 charges, including felony counts of child rape, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault of a child, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual assault and corruption of minors.
Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse said in a written statement he argued for a sentence that would “remove Yerger from the possibility or (sic) creating another victim for the rest of his natural life.” He recommended a 180- to 360-year sentence.
Under the decadeslong sentence Yerger received, he will be in his mid-to-late 70s when he is first eligible for parole. A message left Friday afternoon with court-appointed public defender Brian W. Ulmer was not immediately returned.
Four girls between approximately 8 to 15 years old each described similar abuse during forensic interviews, state police at Lamar wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. They said Yerger paid or gave them items before or after the abuse, which spanned 2017 to 2021.
One girl told investigators she was abused at Yerger’s home in Ferguson Township and in Clinton County, police wrote. Strouse said Yerger was convicted of a minimum of 16 separate incidents of sexual abuse.
According to Strouse’s statement, Yerger alleged during his sentencing that the children, police and prosecutor lied during the two-day trial. He further argued his attorney refused to offer hundreds of pieces of evidence that would have purportedly proven his innocence.
The statements did not appear to carry much weight with the judge, who told Yerger he showed no remorse and did not take accountability, according to Strouse.