Sentence modified for convicted sex offender
A Florida man convicted in October of sexually abusing two children over the course of several years had his sentence modified in Fayette County court on Thursday, shaving 5 to 10 years off what was originally imposed.
In January, Scott Kelly, 40, formerly of Orlando, was sentenced to 22 ½ to 45 years in prison at a hearing before Judge Steve P. Leskinen after a jury convicted him of three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, four counts of indecent assault and one count of statutory sexual assault.
The charges stemmed from allegations that surfaced in May 2011 that he had abused a brother and sister — now ages 25 and 27, respectively — at various locations in Uniontown, Connellsville and Markleysburg between 1993 and 1998.
Kelly filed a post-sentence motion, claiming the sentences at some of the counts exceeded statutory limitations. His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Susan Ritz-Harper, argued that the guidelines used to determine his sentence applied to crimes that happened after the time period in which Kelly assaulted the children.
According to statutes from the 1990s, which would apply to the crimes Kelly committed, each of the three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five to 10 years. Previously, Leskinen had imposed longer sentences at each of those counts, but because he had departed from the aggravated, or highest, range of sentencing, he ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
Assistant District Attorney Linda Cordaro had the opportunity to revisit the sentencing scheme as well, even though the motion was brought on the defendant’s behalf.
“The commonwealth’s position remains the same,” Cordaro said. “We would ask the court to consider applying the mandatory sentence,” adding that the sentences should be served consecutively.
“The defendant has been convicted of these serious offenses, offenses that occurred over years and years. That’s reason enough to sentence consecutively,” she said.
Leskinen agreed.
Additionally, he modified sentencing on two other counts, reducing them to two and half to five years each and made a minor change in wording to reflect the fact that one of those counts does not require a mandatory minimum sentence.
Kelly’s aggregate jail sentence was reduced to 17 ½ to 35 years. No changes were made in his status as a sexually violent predator he will still be subject to quarterly registration requirements for the rest of his life upon being released from prison.