HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy in November 2021 was sentenced Friday to six to 15 years in prison, followed by five years’ probation.

Robert John Byers Jr., 34, who was babysitting the boy at the time of the alleged assault, rendered no contest pleas to felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors and misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault.

By pleading no contest, Byers is not admitting guilt but he is recognizing that the evidence is sufficient enough to result in convictions.

“Whatever sentence he gets, I can assure you that it’s not enough,” the child’s grandmother told Blair County Judge Fred Miller, who imposed the negotiated sentence.

A victim/witness advocate, who read a statement in court on behalf of the child’s emotional mother, said she hopes Byers never reaches parole.

“I want to see that you serve the maximum sentence for the monster you are,” the mother said in the statement.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Mays presented the plea agreement to Miller, who presided over his first session of scheduled pleas in the courtroom where he was sworn into office a week ago.

Miller, in handing down the sentence, ordered Byers to have no contact with the victim and his family and to undergo a mental health evaluation and follow recommendations.

Defense attorney Dan Kiss said outside court that his client rendered no contest pleas to the criminal offenses because the DNA evidence in the case was inclusive.

“The DNA in this matter did not rule him in or out, and it didn’t say he did it or didn’t do it,” Kiss said.

Criminal charges indicate that the boy’s parents went to Altoona police on Nov. 5, 2021, after hearing the child ask to change his shirt. The child said the shirt had spit on it because of what the babysitter did.

Police submitted the shirt to a state police lab, which identified spermatozoa and saliva.

Police also interviewed Byers, who initially told them that he was working on an erotic fiction novel, then masturbated and ejaculated in an upstairs bathroom. Police said Byers later spoke of fighting sexual fantasies and of forcing the boy into oral sex while believing the boy was asleep.

Kiss told Miller that the negotiated sentence fell within the standard range of the state’s sentencing guidelines for the offenses. Had Byers gone to trial and been convicted, he would have risked being sentenced to a longer period.

“He’s choosing not to put the family or the court through a jury trial,” Kiss said in court.

Byers, who has remained incarcerated since his Feb. 2, 2022, arrest, will be credited for time served. Because of his plea to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse offense, Byers will be required to regularly register his address and related information with state police for the rest of his life.

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