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Last updated on Tuesday, September 16, 2014
(BEDFORD) - Charles R. Strunk, of Heltonville, was sentenced in Lawrence County Superior Court II Tuesday after to 44 years in prison on two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.
A jury found 38-year-old Strunk guilty of the crimes on July 24 after deliberating for about 5 hours. During the trial Struck adamantly denied the allegations.
Judge Williams Sleva sentenced Strunk to 44 years with nothing suspended on the Class A felony of count of sexual misconduct with a minor and 10 years on the second count, a Class B felony. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
The now 16-year-old female victim testified during the trial, that Stunk sexually assaulted her at knifepoint in the woods behind a Lawrence County Home.
The girl, who was friends with Strunk's daughter in elementary school, visited each other often. A few years later the teenager's family moved elsewhere in the county. The friendship continued, but the contact was less frequent.
But on May 8, 2013 the girl had messaged Strunk on Facebook asking him to take her mushroom hunting. He did, but when they went into the woods the girl alleged that Strunk pulled out a green piece of paper and a knife.
The girl testified that Strunk read aloud what was on the paper, but told the jury she couldn't remember what he said.
Strunk then told her to remove her clothes. The girl then claimed that Strunk took a permanent marker and drew symbols on her body. He then performed oral sex on her and forced her to do the same on him. The girl estimated they were in the woods for about 30 to 45 minutes.
According to the girl's testimony, Strunk spent the next several hours at the house, because he suffered several seizures.
The teenager said she had seen him have seizures before, but not as many in as short a time as he suffered that night. She testified that she and her sister attempted to assist Strunk until their mother arrived. Strunk left the house around midnight, and that is when the girl told her mother what happened.
The mother called Strunk's wife and then the police.
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