Locked up since her arrest Feb. 8 on sexual assault charges, Kathleen M. Harella, 29, of 1429 Walnut St., Jersey Shore, was sentenced Thursday to four to eight years in state prison for molesting two teenage boys last December while working as their babysitter.
According to city police, Harella molested a 13-year-old and 15-year-old boy while they slept. The incidents occurred in the 1500 block of Memorial Ave., according to arresting officer Agent Kevin Stiles of the Williamsport Bureau of Police.
In a plea agreement, charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors were dropped. Harella pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault March 26 before Lycoming County Judge Nancy L. Butts, who handed down the sentence Thursday.
The woman blamed alcohol as a factor that led to the sexual assaults.
"I never meant for anybody to get hurt and I never meant for it to happen," Harella told the judge.
Harella will not have to register as a Megan's Law offender and will not be evaluated as a sexually violent predator, according to Butts.
