GREENVILLE — Darke County Sheriff’s deputies, local and county detectives, and family members of the alleged victim were present in the Darke County Common Pleas courtroom Thursday afternoon as William Joseph Pry, age 32, of Bradford, was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of sexual battery, a third-degree felony. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided.
Pry was arrested in August of last year, and pled guilty to eight counts of sexual battery as part of a plea agreement with the Darke County Prosecutor’s Office in January. Pursuant to the plea agreement, seven additional counts, including charges of rape and gross sexual imposition, were dismissed.
Sexual battery typically involves some sort of authoritative or privileged relationship between the perpetrator and victim, such as teacher/student or parent/guardian, according to Judge Hein. In addition to the eight-year prison sentence, Pry must register with the sheriff’s office of his county of residence as a Tier III sex offender every 90 days for the remainder of his life.
Pry’s attorney, Antony Aboud, requested a one-year prison term in his comments to the court prior to sentencing, while Prosecutor R. Kelly Ormsby argued for a much stiffer penalty.
“This is what the state believes is an appalling case of sexual abuse,” Ormsby said. “The defendant admitted to many incidents of sexual misconduct with the victim, who was only 13 years old at the time. He also admitted that the victim complained he had caused her pain during the course of the abuse.”
Ormsby stated there were three factors which underlined the seriousness of the case, including the physical injury and psychological harm suffered by the victim, as well as the fact the defendant took advantage of a close relationship in order to perpetrate the abuse.
“There are really no factors here that make the offense less serious,” Ormsby said. “And I don’t see how a one-year sentence would deter the defendant, or anyone else in the community who may be contemplating committing this sort of crime, from offending again.”
Aboud saw things differently, saying his client had openly admitted, and taken responsibility for, his actions from the beginning.
“From the onset of this thing, he’s taken ownership of all of it,” Aboud said. The attorney also stated that, apart from any prison term, lifetime sex offender registry would ensure that Pry continues to be “haunted” by his actions for the rest of his life.
“I think that, in itself, is a form of punishment,” Aboud said.
For his own part, the defendant expressed remorse for his actions.
“I made the wrong choices, and I deeply regret the choices that I made,” Pry said. “I’ve said sorry so many times, and I’ll continue to say sorry for the rest of my life.”
Finally, the victim’s mother stood to make a statement.
“You talk about how he’s going to live with this for the rest of his life, and he’s 32 years old,” she said. “My daughter is only 16 years old, and she will suffer for the rest of her life, in every relationship that she has, in every relationship that I have.”
Judge Hein offered words of consolation to the victim and her family.
“The goal is not to have a lifetime of suffering,” Hein said. “That has to be a driving goal. This is never going to not have happened, but it doesn’t have to define you. With survivors, good things can come out of horrible circumstances.”
