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Ex-KidsPeace counselor admits to
sex with teen
He will be sentenced in October on charges from incident at North
Whitehall facility July 20,
2006
By Debbie Garlicki
A former KidsPeace counselor who
had sex with a 16-year-old resident of the North Whitehall Township
facility for troubled youths pleaded guilty Wednesday to
institutional sexual assault and corruption of a minor.
Jerry J. McChristian, 34, who no
longer works at the youth home, told the judge that he was
''pushed'' into having sex with the girl in August.
Lehigh County Judge Robert L.
Steinberg asked him what he meant. McChristian, of 2106 S. Lumber
St., Allentown, mumbled an inaudible response.
Steinberg noted that McChristian
was an adult and the girl was a child and asked McChristian why he
did not reject alleged advances by a teen girl who wouldn't have
been at the facility if she didn't already have problems.
Whether or not the sex was
consensual, the judge said, McChristian was over 18 and the girl was
under 18 and having sex with her was an act that would corrupt a
minor.
After Senior Deputy District
Attorney Matthew Falk outlined the prosecution's case, the judge
asked McChristian whether or not he had sex with the girl.
McChristian didn't answer and appeared reluctant to speak.
Steinberg told him that if he
didn't want to plead guilty, a trial would be scheduled.
''I don't want a wishy-washy
response from you,'' Steinberg told McChristian.
He asked McChristian again whether
he engaged in inappropriate acts with the girl.
''I was pushed into it,'' said
McChristian, who is free on bail. He was represented by attorney
Michael Brunnabend of Allentown.
Falk said that on Aug. 10, the girl
asked a KidsPeace staff member if she could make a telephone call.
The girl got permission, and McChristian escorted her into a
conference room where she made a call.
McChristian and the girl then had
sex on the floor, Falk said. The girl reported the incident to
someone at KidsPeace, who called state police.
Authorities tested evidence on a
carpet in the conference room and found that DNA from the carpet
matched McChristian's DNA, according to Falk.
Falk said he explained the
negotiated plea to the victim, who is expected to testify at
McChristian's sentencing hearing on Oct. 12.
The prosecution and defense agreed
to a binding sentence of probation for the charge of institutional
sexual assault, which is a third-degree felony. There was no
agreement on the sentence McChristian will get for the corruption of
a minor charge and no agreement on whether the sentences for the two
charges will run consecutively or concurrently.
Corruption of minors carries a
maximum sentence of 21/2 to five years in prison.
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