Staff writer
A Canonsburg man was sentenced Friday to 5 to 10 years in a state prison for having sex with a teenage girl for more than a year, resulting in her pregnancy.
Robert Brewer, 65, of 120 E. Pitt St., received the sentence from Washington County Judge Janet Moschetta Bell. He pleaded guilty in May to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors for the crimes that occurred between August 2005 and September 2006, when the girl was 13 and 14.
The girl, who has since placed the baby up for adoption, did not appear in court. However, Assistant District Attorney Traci McDonald read a heart-wrenching letter the girl sent.
In it, the girl said she was raped as a toddler, and raped by her father when she was 11. The girl said she told her mother about the assaults, but she did not take action. The girl said she also was sexually abused by her aunt and then by Brewer.
"I'm with a family that loves me a lot," the girl wrote of her foster family. "I know I will be safe, and my baby will be safe."
The girl's father is in prison, and the girl is in counseling, McDonald said. She argued for the mandatory 5- to 10-year prison sentence for Brewer.
"I want to apologize to the court for the bad mistake that I made," Brewer said. Brewer's son also spoke on his behalf. Brewer's attorney, Jim Crosby, asked the judge for leniency, noting that Brewer has serious health problems and has taken responsibility for the crime.
Before imposing her sentence, Moschetta Bell noted that Brewer "was healthy enough at age 63 to impregnate a 14-year-old child."
Brewer also was found to be a sexually violent predator under Megan's Law and must report his address to authorities when he is released from prison.