Uniontown man declared sexually violent predator
A Uniontown man serving a sentence of 10 to 20 years for raping two children over the course of several years was declared a sexually violent predator in Fayette County Court.
Elmer Plum, 71, appeared Thursday via video conference before President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. for a hearing regarding the evaluation made by Herbert Hays of the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board.
Plum pleaded no contest in February to 14 charges related to the abuse of a boy, who is now 16 years old, and a girl, who is now 11. He was accused of assaulting both of them multiple times, from the time each was the age of 6, at residences in Masontown and Menallen Township, beginning in 2003. On March 5, Plum was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.
The Herald-Standard does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Hays testified that during the interview to determine whether Plum met the statutory criteria for a sexually violent predator, Plum was cooperative, but he denied raping the children.
Assistant District Attorney Meghann Mikluscak asked Hays how he arrived at the determination that Plum is a sexually violent predator.
According to Hays, there are two pathways toward sexual offending: either a person demonstrates anti-social characteristics or a person is sexually deviant. Hays testified that Plum fell into the latter category.
Although Plum would not admit to having sex with the children in this case, Hays said Plum did admit to having sex with two teenage girls several years ago and that he impregnated them both. Plum was never charged criminally in those instances.
Plum’s court-appointed attorney, Dianne Zerega, asked Hays how he factored Plum’s denial of assaulting the two children in the current case into the evaluation.
“What’s important is that he’s in prison because he was convicted of these crimes,” Hays replied.
Hays testified that he believes Plum is likely to re-offend, based on the admission that he engaged in sexually deviant behavior in the past and failed to stop himself from doing it again. Also, Hays noted that Plum had a male victim, which is significant because “individuals who have a male victim are two times as likely to re-offend as those who only have female victims.”
Pedophilia has no cure and never fully abates in a person’s lifetime, Hays testified, and Zerega asked if he thought Plum could benefit from treatment.
“The issue is whether the individual will apply what they learned in treatment,” said Hays. “I can’t say whether treatment would prevent him from doing it again.”
Wagner explained to Plum that as a sexually violent predator under Megan’s Law, he must appear at an approved registration site quarterly for the rest of his life. Additionally, Plum must attend counseling at least once a month for the rest of his life.
When Wagner asked Plum if he had anything he would like to say, Plum responded, “About the two youngest kids — I never had sex with them two kids. They said I abused them, but I didn’t do that.”