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Clarksville man’s child rape sentencing upheld by state court

By Mark Hofmann, For The Greene County Messenger 2 min read
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The Pennsylvania Superior Court has denied the appeal of a Clarksville man sentenced to up to 680 years in prison for child rape.

In his appeal, Eric James Stull, 50, questioned if the judge in his case erred in finding his plea was made knowingly, willingly and voluntarily; if the court abused its discretion in his sentence; if the sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and if a court-ordered sexually violent predator registration was unconstitutional.

The Greene County man produced 39 videos and took 106 photos of his sexual exploitation of a young girl from the age from 2 to 11 between 2006 and 2015.

In the opinion written by Superior Court Senior Judge Eugene B. Strassburger III, he writes that Stull was an active participant in his plea proceedings and understood the ramifications in rejecting a plea offer for a general plea, the court didn’t abuse its discretion, the sentence was not cruel and unusual punishment because Stull failed to present an argument on how the gravity of the offense and harshness of the penalty are disproportionate.

However, Strassburger notes that during the pendency of Stull’s appeal, the court issued a ruling finding that the framework for designating a convicted defendant as a sexually violent predator for life was unconstitutional.

That portion of the appeal was vacated, and the county court is to provide Stull with the appropriate notice of his registration obligations.

Stull is housed at SCI-Fayette.

Last month, Stull was sentenced to an additional 338 years in prison in a separate federal case brought against him. That case was for the production of child pornography. The victim in that case is the same child he was convicted of repeatedly raping in the state court case. 

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