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Mennonite brothers sentenced for sex crimes
By joe gorman
youngstown
Two brothers were each given probation Friday for sex crimes they were charged with committing in the mid-1990s.
Matthew Van Pelt, 34, of Willett Road in Plymouth, was given three years’ probation after he entered guilty pleas in August in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to five counts of gross sexual imposition.
Paul Van Pelt, 33, of state Route 98 in Shelby was given two years’ probation after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual imposition.
Matthew Van Pelt was accused of abusing two boys and a girl when he was a teenager. His brother was accused of abusing the two boys, also when he was a teenager.
Prosecutors agreed to stand silent as part of the plea agreement when the sentences were handed down.
Attorneys for both men told Judge John Durkin that their clients have been trouble-free since the time of the incidents. Both, as members of the Mennonite Church, confessed their crimes and were excommunicated for a period of time. Both are married and have children, and both have had consistent employment since they were adults. Each apologized for his actions, with Paul Van Pelt in tears.
The two were interviewed by police in 2005 for the crimes but were not indicted until 2011. The courtroom was packed Friday with family and friends from their Mennonite community.
The female abused by Matthew Van Pelt wrote a victim-impact statement that was read by Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa.
In the statement, the victim said she was subjected to threats, and the incidents have shattered her trust with other men and her view of what normal relationships should be. She said she is in counseling to help her deal with the abuse, but that she forgives Matthew Van Pelt. She told Judge Durkin that she was praying for him to make whatever sentence would be just and fair. She said she would not advise what sentence the judge should give.
One of the male victims also entered a statement saying that his view of normal relationships also is warped because of the attacks and that he is afraid to ask for help even now because he is ashamed and also because he was threatened.
J. Gerald Ingram, attorney for Matthew Van Pelt, said his client has some form of cognitive disabilities and also was deaf before receiving a cochlear transplant, but even in court he had difficulty hearing. Since he has received the transplant, some of those disabilities have either gone away or improved greatly, such as being able to relate to people, Ingram said.
Lou DeFabio, attorney for Paul Van Pelt, said the female victim wrote that his client did not abuse her, and she was thankful and grateful that he sought help on his own and confessed on his own.
Judge Durkin said he thought the case should have been handled years ago on the juvenile court level. He said the fact that both men have led trouble-free lives since the conduct took place led him to believe there was almost no risk of them getting in trouble again and repeating their mistakes.