HOLLIDAYSBURG — A rape case filed late last year in Blair County’s juvenile court has been resolved with a negotiated plea that moved the case to adult court and imposed six months’ incarceration in the county prison.

Trevor B. Zimmerman, 20, Hollidaysburg, rendered guilty pleas Tuesday to first-degree felony counts of rape of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

State police at Hollidaysburg filed those charges after investigating the allegations of a teenage girl, relevant to 2014-18, when the girl and her father and Zimmerman and his mother lived together in Tyrone and Antis Township.

Charges indicated that Zimmerman was between 14 and 18 years old at the time of the offenses. The girl was four years younger.

Zimmerman’s charges were directed into juvenile court based on his age at the time of the alleged offenses. Because he turns 21 at the end of September — the age when state law ends juvenile court supervision — Zimmerman’s charges were at risk of being dismissed without being addressed.

In court Tuesday, Judge Timothy M. Sullivan was scheduled to consider transferring Zimmerman’s charges from juvenile to adult court, at the request of assistant district attorneys Derek Elensky and Justin Shickman.

But defense attorney Michael Emerick, in response, asked for his client to be evaluated by an expert who could weigh in on the request.

Elensky acknowledged Zimmerman’s right to ask for an evaluation, but described it as problematic. Getting that evaluation completed, reviewed and presented to Sullivan before Zimmerman turns 21 would be very difficult, Elensky later explained.

Sullivan gave the attorneys time to discuss the options and meet with those affected. They returned to court about three hours later.

In following the negotiated plea, the judge transferred Zimmerman’s case to adult court and accepted Zimmerman’s guilty pleas to the child rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

The judge also imposed the recommended incarceration, starting Oct. 15, of six months to 23.5 months in the county prison, followed by eight years’ probation.

The girl told Zimmerman in court that she has nightmares and flashbacks.

“You may not think it’s a big deal, but you ruined my childhood,” she said.

The girl’s father lambasted Zimmerman in court.

“You know what you did,” the father said. “You knew the difference between right and wrong. You are an animal. You’re not even human.”

When Sullivan gave Zimmerman a chance to speak, Zimmerman said he was sorry before lamenting: “There’s nothing I can do or say to make it better.”

Elensky said he wasn’t happy with the plea agreement, but saw no other options to hold Zimmerman accountable.

“I’m devastated that I couldn’t have done more for this victim,” Elensky said in his office after the court hearing. “Sometimes, the law doesn’t allow us to pursue the penalty that we’d like to.”

Emerick said his client also faced a risk. If the charges were moved into adult court without the agreement, Zimmerman could have been facing a sentence with years in a state prison.

“Both sides found a middle ground … for a sentence far below normal guidelines,” the defense attorney said.

Zimmerman’s convictions will require him to follow sex offender registration rules. State police maintain the registry requiring offenders to regularly register their addresses and related information.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.