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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Roaring Spring man who was a corrections officer at the Blair County Prison in late 2023 and early 2024 when he engaged in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl has rendered guilty pleas for a state prison sentence of 3.5 to 12 years' incarceration.
John David Mollica, 26, currently housed in the Cambria County Prison, was transported Friday to the Blair County Courthouse, where he rendered the guilty pleas in what First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith described as a case with very strong evidence.
Mollica's guilty pleas to eight felony counts of statutory sexual assault of a child, along with felony counts of witness intimidation, unlawful contact with a minor and related offenses, makes him a Tier II sex offender who must regularly register his address and identification information with state police for 25 years after his release from prison.
Smith said Friday that Mollica abused the teenager sexually and emotionally.
"He groomed her in a way that she thought she was in an adult relationship," the prosecutor said.
Senior Judge Timothy M. Sullivan, who heard the negotiated plea agreement presented in court by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Mays and defense attorney Christian Kerstetter, assigned concurrent sentences of 2.5 to 10 years on the statutory sexual assault offenses, then assigned a a consecutive sentence of one to two years for the witness intimidation offense to reach the recommended total sentence of 3.5 to 12 years' incarceration.
Smith said she was satisfied to negotiate a state prison sentence because the state guidelines show six to 14 months' incarceration as a standard range sentence for statutory sexual assault. The defense initially proposed a county sentence which she said she wouldn't consider in this case.
Kerstetter told Sullivan that the case involved a lot of electronic evidence, which factored into the proposed resolution.
"This sentence represents the best we could hope to negotiate," Kerstetter said.
Smith credited the Roaring Spring Police Chief Greg Wyandt and DA office detectives Michael Sapienza and Kim Sanders for collecting evidence that built a strong case against Mollica.
Criminal charges indicate that when Wyandt and the detectives spoke with the girl in early 2024, she indicated that she and Mollica began a relationship in November 2023 and that they had sex "a lot" at his residence in Roaring Spring. The teen also said that Mollica had promised to give her $400, two vapes and a new iPhone if she didn't tell anyone about the relationship.
Charges indicate that the DA detectives secured a search warrant for Mollica's cellphone and removed it from his locker at the county prison where he was working. An additional search warrant was secured to search a residence where Mollica was reported to be staying. At that residence, detectives found an artificial fingernail matching the fingernails the girl wore when she spoke with detectives.
Mollica initially told detectives he met the girl one or two times and that he believed she was 11 years old.
A review of the cellphone communications between the girl and Mollica revealed otherwise, with evidence indicating that Mollica was repeatedly calling her and asking her about her location and who she was with.
Mollica has been incarcerated since his arrest on
Feb. 9, 2024. His employment as a county corrections officer was terminated as of Feb. 2, 2024.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay
Stephens is at 814-946-7456.