Pa. man gets prison time for sexual contact with young girls

LISBON — Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court sentenced a man today to a total of five years in prison for having sexual contact with two girls.

Gerald L. Heaton Sr., 67, of Reynolds, Pa., had been charged with rape involving one girl and gross sexual imposition involving the second.

Both of the victims were under 13 when the crimes occurred at a home in New Waterford. The acts involving the first victim occurred from 1997 to 2001. The acts involving the second victim occurred from 1988 to 1992.

Heaton entered a plea in which he maintained his innocence, but admitted that sufficient evidence existed with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find him guilty.

Judge Pike accepted the plea, found Heaton guilty, and added that Heaton will have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.