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A Williamsport man who pleaded no contest to charges of child pornography and aggravated indecent assault in the middle of his September trial was sentenced to 12 to 24 months in prison in the courtroom of Judge Ryan Tira Tuesday.
The plea allowed Georgio Nomberto Rochon, 36, of Williamsport, to agree to be sentenced without admitting guilt, in exchange for other charges of rape, sexual assault, simple assault, making terroristic threats, possession of an instrument of crime, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault being withdrawn.
The charge of aggravated indecent assault carries a lifetime sex offender registration requirement for Rochon, Yates explained. The child pornography charge alone would have only carried a 15-year registration requirement, she noted.
During the January 2023 attack, Rochon told a 21-year-old female acquaintance that he was "going to cut her throat," and that she would "be dead before emergency services" reached the scene, before putting a knife to her throat, removing her clothes and sexually assaulting her, according to court documents.
During the investigation, police discovered that Rochon had convinced a 14- and 15-year-old to send nude photographs of themselves after making them believe they were in romantic relationships with him, according to Lycoming County Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates.
In imploring Tira to accept the sentencing guidelines worked out in the plea deal, defense attorney Howard Gold stressed that Rochon will be required to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.
Rochon also waived credit for over seven months of time served, something Gold said he had never seen.
"I don't want to be here, but people want to know how this has affected me," the victim said during her victim impact statement.
"This traumatic event has ruined my life, it's ruined my relationships, it's ruined my self esteem. I still have nightmares of you," she said directly to Rochon. "I still get threats from people associated with you."
"Is it worth it," she pondered about coming forward with the assault. "If it will help future victims, then yes, it is."
"I do understand the traumatic nature of what you went through. I don't want you to think the court doesn't take this seriously," Tira told her. "Unfortunately, my hands are somewhat tied by the nature of the plea agreement."
The agreement was a resolution reached between the prosecution and the defense, he said.
In part due to the lack of physical contact between Rochon and the victims of the child pornography charges, he will be allowed to have supervised visitations with his children while incarcerated, as well as during the mandatory three year probationary period following his release, Tira ruled.
Additionally, Rochon will be required to undergo a mental health evaluation and pay $1,000 in restitution to the victim.