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Saturday, March 11, 2000 Page: 7A
WILKES-BARRE
Man pleads guilty to fire at home\ A Nanticoke man pleaded guilty Thursday
to lighting his own home on fire.
Brian Parker, 38, Phillips Street, entered the plea on two counts of arson.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan scheduled
sentencing for 1 p.m. April 27.
According to police:
On Nov. 21, police and fire personnel were dispatched to 204-206 Phillips
St. at 9:11 a.m. A state police fire marshal ruled the fire arson and Parker
confessed to setting the blaze.
Police said the fire caused moderate damage to the third floor of the
building.
WILKES-BARRE
Man pleads guilty to sexual assault
A Hanover Township man was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for his
guilty plea Thursday to sexually assaulting a young girl several times.
Fred Emil, 35, of Hanover Village, entered the plea on rape, endangering
the welfare of children, and corruption of minor charges.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan imposed the
sentence on Emil.
According to the police affidavit:
Emil sexually assaulted the girl several times, starting when she was 7
years old in 1998 until the last incident on Aug. 9, 1999.
Emil performed oral sex on the girl, fondled the girl, and made the girl
perform oral sex on him.
WILKES-BARRE
Man pleads guilty to assault charge
A city man who burned, punched and scratched a 9-month-old boy because he
wouldn’t stop crying has pleaded guilty for the second time to aggravated
assault.
Additional charges of simple assault and endangering the welfare of
children were dropped against Brian Evans, 36, Park Avenue.
Evans first pleaded guilty in December to the assault of Warren Bacon Jr.
But he later withdrew his guilty plea on Jan 19.
According to police:
On May 25, the baby was staying with his mother’s father, Lawrence Hartman,
and Hartman’s common-law wife, Virginia Kessler, on Park Avenue.
That evening, Hartman, Kessler and Connie Bacon, the boy’s mother, went
bowling and left the baby in the care of Evans and Helen Stelts. Stelts went
to the store to buy cigarettes for Evans. When she returned, the baby appeared
to have been roughed up.
Evans told Bacon the injuries were caused by a vacuum cleaner and denied
beating the boy.
Evans later admitted he tried to quiet the crying baby by burning him in
the head with a cigarette, punching him in the stomach and scratching the
baby’s face.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan is scheduled to
sentence Evans at 1 p.m. April 27.
WILKES-BARRE
Man in sex case gets new sentence
A Hazle Township man who had been declared a sexual predator under Megan’s
Law was resentenced on Friday to more than 14 years in a state prison.
Robert Kemler, 46, pleaded guilty in June 1998 to sexually assaulting a
15-year-old girl. Kemler was originally sentenced to 12 years to life in
prison under Megan’s Law.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan on Friday
imposed a total sentence of 176 months to 352 months.
Under Megan’s Law, Kemler would have been eligible for parole after serving
his minimum sentence. But officials could have held him in prison for life if
he was thought to be a threat to commit sexual offenses again.
The Superior Court ruled the law was unconstitutional because it placed the
burden of proof on the defendant to disprove the predator designation. As a
result, defendants labeled sexually violent predators had to be resentenced.
Police said Kemler sexually abused a 15-year-old girl for more than a year,
beginning in the summer of 1996. Kemler forced the girl to perform various
sexual acts, including intercourse, according to court documents.
Kemler pleaded guilty to one count each of rape, involuntary deviate sexual
intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated assault and endangering the
welfare of children.