BEDFORD - With 80 years set to pass until he's eligible for parole, a convicted Everett child rapist will almost certainly die in prison for repeatedly assaulting two young Bedford County sisters.
Judge Travis Livengood imposed a hefty 80-to-195-year sentence Thursday against Kerry Smith, 51, who raped and fondled the sisters when they were 11 years old and younger.
"He should be punished for each and every act he committed against these children," District Attorney Bill Higgins said in a news release. In July, a Bedford County jury convicted Smith on 69 counts, including 10 rape charges and 30 indecent exposure charges.
Smith began molesting one of the girls when she was 7, state police said in an affidavit. He brought a laptop computer on baby-sitting visits, sitting her on his lap while he watched pornographic videos.
From there, police said, Smith moved on to more explicit sex acts, culminating in multiple rapes when the girl was 10 and 11 years old.
He then moved on to her younger sister, police said.
"Once she turned 10 or 11, she was too old for him, and he set his sights on a younger girl," Higgins said in a news release.
The younger sister told state police that Smith had tried to kiss her and force her to watch "disgusting movies" - attempts she apparently escaped more than once. At one point, the girl told police, Smith fondled her while she played with Barbie dolls in her room.
The girls' mother, who Higgins said frequently employed Smith as a baby-sitter, faced no charges as she likely wasn't aware of the abuse, he said.
Smith was officially labeled a sexually violent predator during his sentencing Thursday, a status that requires notification of school officials, neighbors and law enforcement officials should he be released from prison.
Defense attorney Thomas Crawford of Pittsburgh asked Bedford County Judge Travis Livengood for a five- to 10-year sentence, a stark contrast for Higgins' 100-to-200-year request.
Higgins hailed the sibling victims as heroes, noting that the older sister, now 18, brought the case to police when she realized her younger sister was suffering the same abuse she had dealt with nearly a decade earlier.
"I am extremely proud of these young girls," he said.
