‘A decision was made to terrorize our daughter’

HOLLIDAYSBURG - The mother of a rape victim told a Blair County judge Monday at a sentencing hearing that her only hope is that her daughter some day ''can laugh again.''

''A decision was made to terrorize our daughter. The effects on the family can never be erased,'' said the mother of the 29-year-old woman who was kidnapped and raped Dec. 13 by Michael Sirko, 31, of New Paris, Bedford County.

Sirko, who entered guilty pleas this summer to kidnapping, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault, was sentenced by Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron to 11 to 22 years in prison. He will be on probation for five years after he is released from a state correctional institution.

''I regret what happened. I am sorry,'' Sirko said at the sentencing.

The young mother of two was on her way to work when she stopped at a convenience store for early-morning coffee. As she drove from the store at Seventh Avenue and 17th Street and headed south on Interstate 99, Sirko crawled into the front seat of the car and implied that he had a gun, according to court documents.

After telling the woman to drive him around, he then directed her to a secluded spot in Logan Township where he assaulted her.

Blair County Deputy District Attorney Wade Kagarise and defense attorney Theodore Krol reached the plea agreement in the summer, but sentencing was delayed until the Pennsylvania Sexual Assessment Board could determine if Sirko was a violent sexual predator under Megan's Law.

Psychologist Henry Hayes of Harrisburg concluded that Sirko was not, noting he had no history of other sexual offenses.

Sirko did, however, have a criminal history of burglary and drug offenses and spent time in the Blair County Prison for drug problems, which included abuse of LSD, powdered and crack cocaine, and marijuana.

The crimes to which he entered guilty pleas suggested to Hayes that Sirko was on a ''pathway of sexual deviance." Hayes' report also indicated that Sirko suffered from mental health issues, for which he received treatment.

Sirko, an eighth-grade dropout, worked for a tire recycler in Bedford County.

During the sentencing, the mother held her daughter's hand as she cried silently.