Oct 31, 2006 By Jennifer Harr 5 min read

The family of a 66-year-old rape victim said they were not happy with a plea deal that imprisoned Raymond “Luke” Prinkey for five to 10 years, but agreed to the sentence to spare the victim more emotional trauma. “I think it’s best not to put her under more stress than she’s gone through and continues to go through,” the victim’s daughter said tearfully during Prinkey’s sentencing hearing in Fayette County Court on Monday.

In July, Prinkey, 19, pleaded guilty to raping the woman, who has multiple sclerosis. State police trooper George Mrosko charged that he broke into the woman’s home on April 23 using a key he found underneath a flowerpot.

The victim found Prinkey in her home, and he took her into her bedroom and raped her around 12:45 a.m., police said.

The victim’s daughter and other family members said they were unhappy with the length of time Prinkey would get under the plea, but said the victim’s health would suffer if she went through a trial.

It’s the Herald-Standard’s policy not to identify the victims of sexual assault or the names of their family members.

Judge John F. Wagner Jr. sentenced Prinkey to five to 10 years in prison – the agreed upon plea – only after getting assurances from the victim and her family that they did not want the case to go to trial.

Wagner said he had a problem with the plea when it was entered because Prinkey could have received quadruple the jail time if convicted at trial and sentenced consecutively on all four charges he faced.

“That bothered me at the time (of the plea), it’s bothered me ever since and it bothers me today,” Wagner said.

He told the victim and her family that he would only sentence Prinkey in accordance with the agreement if he had their full consent.

District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon said she had discussions with the family about the negative and positive aspects of both a plea bargain and a trial. Vernon said the family was concerned that the emotional toll of a trial would lead to a flair up of the victim’s multiple sclerosis.

“It was a horrible, horrible act – an act no human being should ever be … subject to,” Vernon said. “It’s such a horrid crime, but we have to protect the interests of (the victim) in this crime.”

Vernon read a statement prepared by the victim’s daughter. In it, she called Prinkey a “pig” several times, and told him his actions have forever changed the victim.

“You have changed a once open and trusting woman into a shell of a human being,” Vernon read.

After the rape, the victim went from vibrant and outgoing to ashamed and depressed, staying behind locked doors, drawing the curtains of her home and reliving the night she was raped.

“I hope you hear my mom crying and begging you to stop over and over in your dreams. I hope it eats away at your soul – that is if you have one,” Vernon read from the prepared statement.

And while the family may one day forgive Prinkey for what happened, they would never forget what he did to the victim, Vernon read.

“Was the $800 you stole and the high you received worth all this? I know it wasn’t for me and my family,” the letter read.

Prinkey’s attorney, David Shrager, turned to the family before sentencing was imposed and told them he felt for them. Because most state prisoners in for violent crimes do 80 percent of their maximum sentence, Shrager told the family that Prinkey would do close to his maximum sentence.

But as he talked to the family, one man told Shrager that he could not possibly understand the effect this has had on the victim and everyone involved.

“Let this happen to you and see how you feel,” another said.

Wagner stopped the exchange, and gave Prinkey an opportunity to speak as well.

Initially, he had his back turned to the victim’s family, seated in the courtroom gallery, but at Shrager’s prompting, he turned to face them.

“No amount of time in prison can make up for what I did,” he told them, vowing to come out of jail a better person.

Prinkey told them he knew he could apologize, but it would not charge what happened.

Wagner said he anguished over this sentence and plea more than any in his 19 years as a judge. Were it not for the family’s agreement, “There is no reason on this green Earth I would’ve accepted this plea bargain,” Wagner said.

He also told Prinkey that he would be notified when he was up for parole in the state system. Wagner said that while it is the decision of the parole board, he would oppose Prinkey’s parole until he serves the full 10 years.

“This is going to haunt you for the rest of your life,” Wagner said. “You’re going to get a label hung on you as soon as you get (to prison). I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

Once he is released from prison, Prinkey will have to register his address with the state police for the rest of his life. Failure to do so could result in additional criminal charges. A psychiatrist who examined Prinkey as part of the state’s sexual offender’s assessment board determined he did not meet the criteria to be called a sexually violent predator.

Had the psychiatrist determined he was a predator, Wagner would have heard testimony about the finding. It would have been at Wagner’s discretion to make that legal finding, and additional penalties such as a lifetime of community notification or counseling would have attached.