SMETHPORT — A Bradford man who was convicted in June of rape allegations will serve seven to 14 years in state prison
Seth A. Travis, 21, was sentenced Friday in McKean County Court before visiting Senior Judge William Morgan. Travis has credit for 605 days of time served.
As Travis was convicted of a Tier 3 sex offense, he will have to register as a sex offender for his lifetime. He was also ordered to have a mental health evaluation, complete sex offender treatment and have no contact with juveniles.
Travis initially pleaded guilty to one charge of rape by forcible compulsion in July 2016, but he withdrew his plea in May and the case was scheduled for a trial.
The jury found him guilty June 27 of rape by forcible compulsion, first-degree felony; simple assault, a first-degree misdemeanor; and indecent assault, a second-degree misdemeanor; and Morgan found him guilty of summary harassment.
Before Travis was sentenced on Friday, District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer asked that Morgan order a sentence that was longer than the probation department’s recommendation, which she explained was on the low end.
To make her point, Shaffer described the attack outlined in the victim’s testimony.
She said Travis had the victim in his bedroom, where he took her phone and started to kiss her; she said no several times and tried to fight him off, but he took off her clothing and starting having sexual intercourse with her.
“The more she fought, the more pressure he was putting on her body,” Shaffer said.
During the attack, he pulled her hair, causing “so much pain she reported it to the nurses,” said Shaffer, who added that he would also have been charged with strangulation if the charge had existed in Pennsylvania at the time of the assault.
Shaffer said the victim believed she was going to die during the assault and said she was able to escape by telling him that one of her parents was coming.
The similarities between this case and a criminal case Travis faced as a juvenile “were remarkable,” said Shaffer — and that was one of the reasons she felt the sentence should be longer. She explained he had to undergo counseling in which he learned he had to get consent for sexual intercourse. “And yet he did it again.”
Shaffer referred to a letter by the victim about the assault and said the letter mentioned “vivid flashbacks” and stated the victim suffered from what she “now refers to as post-traumatic stress disorder” — but “at the time thought it was pure insanity.”
When Morgan asked Travis if he wanted to make a statement on his own behalf, he only said, “No, your honor.”
Morgan followed the recommendation from the probation department, noting that he was doing so because it is Travis’s first adult offense.
Morgan added, “I’m going to require sexual offender treatment,” and explained Travis won’t be able to be released from prison after serving the minimum sentence if he doesn’t complete treatment.
