City man renders guilty pleas to assaulting girls

Deal gives Raihl 2.5- to 6-year sentence

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County inmate who rendered guilty pleas Friday to sexual assault charges involving two girls is expected to be transferred to a state prison, based on a negotiated sentence of 2.5 to six years' incarceration.

David C. Raihl II, 41, who has been fighting the charges for about three years, pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated indecent assault of a child and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a child less than 13.

While Raihl has been in the county prison since March 3, 2021 -- exceeding his minimum sentence by about seven months -- a portion of that incarceration may or may not be credited toward a state parole violation, First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith said Friday.

Online court records show Raihl was sentenced in Cambria County in August 2011 for separate incidents -- burglary and reckless burning -- and ordered to serve consecutive sentences adding up to 2.5 to 20 years. So when Altoona police charged him in early 2021 with sexually assaulting the two girls, he was on state parole, which would be violated by his newest convictions.

Smith said Friday that Raihl will be transferred from Blair County's prison to a state facility. She also said that because the sentence requires Raihl to complete treatment for sex offenders -- which is available in a state prison -- it's unlikely that the state parole board would release him before that's completed.

Smith also admitted in court that the recommended sentence reflected the belief that taking the case to trial could be harmful to the victims.

Smith said one of the victims found the thought of testifying to be devastating, so much so that she had to be hospitalized for the anxiety and fear she experienced in anticipation of a pre-trial hearing.

In a pre-trial ruling Judge Jackie Bernard issued in June 2023, the judge reported having met in chambers with one of the victims, who spoke about the social anxiety she experiences and how it would affect her ability to testify. She also concluded in that same ruling that both girls could provide trial testimony from a location outside the courtroom.

In court Friday, where Bernard had the option of accepting or rejecting the proposed sentence, she acknowledged that taking this case to trial could cause more trauma for the victims.

The judge also pointed out that Raihl, represented in court by defense attorney John Hicks, was pleading to the most serious charge filed against him by Altoona police and that the resolution imposes a state sentence.

The charges against Raihl developed in late August 2020, when an Altoona father advised police that his 13-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted while staying at her friend's house on the 1600 block of 17th Avenue. Based on an investigation into the claims, Raihl was accused of cozying up to the girl and running his hand up and down her back and under her shirt, then telling her it was too bad that she wasn't older.

Further investigation prompted the girl's friend, who was 12 years old, to disclose that Raihl had been sexually assaulting her, including times when he penetrated her body with his fingers and touched her breasts.

The judge told Raihl that based on his convictions, he will be required to regularly register his address and related identification information for the rest of his life.

Raihl also said in court that he will cooperate with a sex offender evaluation while incarcerated, while maintaining the right to contest any findings.

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