Dent

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The city man behind bars on felony child rape and related charges was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison during Blair County Court on Thursday.

Benjamin Thomas Dent Jr., 53, pleaded guilty to 63 of the charges against him in exchange for the sentence and the remaining 647 charges being dismissed. Those original charges included nine felony counts of rape of a child, 624 felony counts of child pornography, 57 felony counts of depicting a sex act, two felony counts of corruption of minors, single felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and unlawful contact with a minor.

Dent also faced six misdemeanor counts each of design/copy obscene material depicting a minor and indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age and one misdemeanor count each of indecent exposure, unlawful contact with a minor and invasion of privacy.

Of these charges, Dent pleaded guilty to the 17 felony counts each of depicting a sex act and child pornography, nine felony counts of child rape, two felony counts of corruption of minors, single felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor and aggravated indecent assault of a child, as well as the six misdemeanor counts each of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age and design/copy obscene material depicting a minor and single misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, unlawful contact with a minor and invasion of privacy.

Prior to Dent’s sentencing, First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith said Dent’s victims had been consulted in regards to the plea deal and were in agreement. While they were present in the courtroom for the sentencing, Smith said they didn’t wish to speak or provide impact statements.

Defense attorney Mary Schaffer said she and attorney Thomas Dickey had gone over the agreement with Dent before the hearing.

“I think it’s a generous proposal by the DA,” Schaffer said.

When given the opportunity to speak on his own behalf, Dent told presiding Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard that he has “never been in trouble with anything like this before.”

“I know I’ve broken a lot of people’s trust in me,” Dent said.

Before handing down Dent’s sentence, Bernard told Dent that she had gone back and read the affidavit of probable cause in preparation for the day’s proceedings and described his actions as “despicable behavior to the nth degree.”

“You have a lot of reckoning to do within yourself and this community,” Bernard said. “There is something demented in taking pleasure like that sexually from a child.”

Bernard then said there was no point in imposing a high-cost fine as Dent would be receiving a lengthy sentence, so instead dictated that a $50 fine be allocated to each count receiving a guilty plea, resulting in a fine of about $3,150. Dent was given a 40-year payment plan for the fine.

In addition to the 20 to 40 year sentence, Dent must undergo a sex offender assessment and complete all assessment and evaluations stemming from its results, as well as undergo a mental health evaluation, a cognitive behavioral therapy class and submit a DNA sample.

Once the sentence was read, family members of the victims broke out in applause and thanked Bernard.

The hearing marks the end of a yearslong ordeal that began when Altoona police were dispatched to a residence along the 2100 block of Fourth Avenue on July 3, 2023, for a report of an indecent exposure and sexual assault.

During the investigation, police were told Dent and the victims’ family were friends, noting the then-7-year-old victim’s mother and Dent had known each other since she was a teenager. Officers learned that the victim told her parents that Dent would show her his “private” parts, touch her and take photos of her while she was naked. Police later received a search warrant for Dent’s cellphone and found video showing Dent touching the victim, police reported.

At least one video shows Dent raping the child, noting an unconfirmed number of images and video were located on Dent’s phone of his interactions with the girl. Multiple pictures and videos of other underage girls were also located on Dent’s phone, court documents state.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.