After several continuances, a city man, who removed his clothes during a June 2024 arraignment before District Judge Denise Dieter, has been sentenced to 57 months to ten years in state prison, Lycoming County Judge Eric Linhardt ruled Friday afternoon.

In March 2025, Brian Carr, 50, of Williamsport, was found guilty of two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault and a summary count of disorderly conduct for sexually assaulting a female victim in her Jersey Shore home in March 2024.

At the outset of the hearing, Carr attempted to enter a plea of insanity, which was swiftly rejected by Linhardt, who informed him that he would have ample ability to file an appeal maintaining that.

While reviewing a pre-sentence report, Linhardt noted that Carr has had 68 prior arrests, with 45 of those being for violence-related offenses, dating back to 1993.

During the commission of the current crime, Carr was on parole for a strangulation charge to which he pleaded guilty to simple assault, and had an active warrant out of Delaware, the judge read from the report, also noting that Carr has penned several 10 to 12 page letters to the court throughout his incarceration.

The victim in the case called for Carr to be given a lengthy prison sentence in a statement read aloud by Linhardt.

“I do not believe that if Mr. Carr is released from jail anytime that I will not have to take extra security precautions to ensure my own safety,” the victim said in the statement.

Carr continued to contact the victim from jail, necessitating the need for her to contact prison officials to have her number blocked from the prison phone system.

Since filing charges, the victim has been the target of harassment from Carr’s relatives, who even visited her daughter’s workplace, continuing the disruptive behavior, she alleged in her statement.

This harassment ultimately prompted the victim to relocate, the expenses of which, totaling $1,919.99, were requested and granted to be paid in the form of restitution by Carr.

“The results of this traumatic event is something my children and myself still have to live with and the healing cannot be complete without knowing Mr. Carr is unable to reach us in any way,” the victim said in her statement.

Two character witnesses for Carr were called by defense attorney Peter Lovecchio.

Brother-in-law, Don Dangle Jr. testified that he and Carr’s sister moved Carr to Pennsylvania from Delaware in 2019, since which time, he had ceased all drug usage and had begun to get his life together prior to meeting the victim online.

Questioned by Linhardt on the fact that since 2022, Carr has had multiple arrests and convictions within the state, which Dangle claimed he had no knowledge of any of them.

“I’m proud to have him as my brother-in-law,” Dangle said.

“My brother is a very good person deep down,” Carr’s sister, Susan told Linhardt.

“I know he didn’t commit this crime,” she said, adding that Carr has mental health issues, is impulsive and it is often his mouth that gets him into trouble.

Pleading with Linhardt to have mercy on her brother, Susan stressed that he is a full-blown diabetic, who is literally dying in prison.

Testifying on his own behalf, Carr told the judge that he had been through a lot in his life.

“I loved that woman. I don’t mean to hurt nobody, and I’m terribly sorry,” Carr said.

Carr described being in prison as “overwhelming,”telling Linhardt that he is currently in kidney failure.

“I’m trying to change and quit drugs. I promise to do better in life,” he told Linhardt.

While acknowledging that a sentence in the lower range was out of the question, Lovecchio stressed to the judge that treatment, not incarceration, is the answer to stemming continued bad behavior by Carr.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that my client’s behaviour is the result of his struggles with mental health,” Lovecchio said.

Deputy Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates countered that Carr’s extensive criminal history, along with the nature of the current offense calls for a stiffer sentence.

“Prior abuse can not be used as justification for such behaviors,” she said.

“The defendant has had numerous chances in his prior cases to change his life for the better,” Yates stressed.

The abuse was “particularly heinous and cruel,” Linhardt said, adding that Carr has never accepted responsibility for the crime or expressed remorse for his actions, prior to handing down his sentence.

Carr interrupted the proceedings several times, questioning the judge’s authority to sentence him due the state of Carr’s mental health, and claiming that he received absolutely no defense whatsoever during his trial.

“You can’t sentence me if I’m insane, and I have all the paperwork to prove it,” Carr argued to Linhardt.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to appoint you a new attorney, a very good attorney, and that person will make certain that all of your rights are protected, but you’re going to have to cooperate with your new attorney,” Linhardt sternly told Carr.