Pennsylvania Superior Court rejects sex offender’s sentence appeal
Prinkey’s motion considered untimely by judge
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A Pennsylvania appeals court has declared that a petition filed by a Bedford County man challenging his lengthy sentence on child sexual abuse charges was untimely and therefore was dismissed.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court this week indicated in an opinion written by Judge Megan King that "Pennsylvania law makes clear that no court has jurisdiction to hear an untimely (post conviction) petition."
The law, as she outlined, requires that a post conviction petition must be filed within a year of the date on which a case was officially closed.
The case in question involved Mark Allen Prinkey, 57, formerly of Hyndman.
According to the Superior Court, Prinkey is serving a prison sentence of 26.5 to 53 years on charges of corruption of minors, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.
Prinkey was initially sentenced by Judge Daniel Lee Howsare to terms of 10 to 25 years behind bars, but when Prinkey won a bid for resentencing, former Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins decided to seek a much higher sentence based on Prinkey's record of having a prior offense.
Judge Thomas S. Ling imposed that much higher sentence of 25.5 to 53 years, Prinkey has repeatedly filed appeals to the new sentence, which included a mandatory 25 years as a repeat offender.
Prinkey has argued that the longer sentence imposed on remand was the result of vindictiveness by the prosecution.
So far, the vindictiveness charge has been rejected by the courts reviewing Prinkey's case.
Prinkey came to the attention of police in 2007 when he allegedly put his hands on the shoulders of a 7-year-old girl and asked her if she had ever been kissed by a boy.
The child reported the incident to her mother and police became involved.
During a Superior Court review of the charges stemming from that incident it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a charge of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
The appeals court vacated the charge and ordered a resentencing on two other offenses against Prinkey.
Then Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins, in view of the resentencing order, decided to seek a 25-year mandatory sentence, noting, "This is a man who was out of jail for a couple of months before he reoffended. He has a sincere interest in having sex with children."
He explained the only way to keep society safe was to keep Prinkey behind bars.
Prinkey, serving as his own attorney, continues to file appeals.
On June 25, 2020, the Superior Court denied post-conviction relief to Prinkey but in June 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court and remanded the case back to the Superior Court, noting Prinkey was in essence challenging the legality of his lengthy sentence.
The Superior Court was also asked to review Prinkey's charge of vindictive sentencing.
"Following remand, this court affirmed on Feb. 14, 2023, that the charge of vindictiveness lacked merit," according to this week's Superior Court decision.
On Sept. 18, 2025, Prinkey, noting the time bar involving the filing of new petitions, cited an exception.
His sentence, he contended, was illegal and that he realized this when he received copies of two news articles in 2018 indicating Higgins himself was under police investigation.
These "new facts," Prinkey suggested, supported his argument that Higgins' judgment and the way he handled cases had been impacted in a negative way.
He argued that these new facts negated the one-year time bar.
The county judge in the case, Patrick T. Kiniry of Cambria County, rejected the argument and ruled the legality of Prinkey's sentence had already been upheld during earlier appeals of his case.
He then filed an appeal to that decision with the Superior Court.
The question was whether his sentence of 26.5 to 53 years was illegal and whether it resulted from the vindictiveness of the now-former DA.
The present Superior Court panel hearing the case included Judges King, Jack A. Panella and Timika Lane.
The opinion stated the date on which Prinkey's sentence became final was May 3, 2018.
The present petition wasn't filed until Sept. 18, 2025, well beyond the one-year limit.
The fact that DA Higgins was facing criminal charges cited in a news article "does not explain why (Prinkey) could not have learned of these facts earlier by the exercise of due diligence, nor does he explain with any certainty ... that the conduct of DA Higgins had any bearing on the outcome of (Prinkey's) case."
The panel upheld the decision by the county judge who rejected Prinkey's argument and concluded Prinkey "failed to overcome the jurisdictional hurdle."
Prinkey presently resides in State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands in Somerset County.