BUSHOR SENTENCED IN 2019 FRATERNITY SEXUAL ASSAULT
LOCK HAVEN – Devon J. Bushor, 24, a former LHU student-athlete and fraternity member was sentenced on Tuesday by Clinton County Court of Common Pleas Judge, Michael F. Salisbury. Bushor was prosecuted by District Attorney Dave Strouse in late March of 2023 resulting in guilty verdicts following a 2-day jury trial on one count of felony 2 Sexual Assault, and one count of misdemeanor 2 indecent assault. Bushor was originally scheduled to be sentenced in late June of 2023, but a series of defense continuances delayed sentencing for almost a full year. In the interim, Bushor was classified by a court-appointed psychologist, and later by Judge Salisbury, as a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP), which makes him subject to the most restrictive Megan’s Law registration requirements imposed by law.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Dave Strouse asked Judge Salisbury to sentence Bushor to the maximum period of incarceration possible pursuant to Pennsylvania Law – 12 years. In support of Bushor, defense counsel Michael Morrone produced eight character letters vouching for Bushor as a person of “impeccable character,” “utmost integrity,” and described him as compassionate and “willing to give you the shirt off his back.” Strouse argued, “The person those folks wrote about in their letters is not the person that sexually assaulted [the victim] in November of 2019. That person is a fiction. The real Devon Bushor sexually assaulted the victim, and another female a few weeks prior to this incident. The real Devon Bushor is a Sexually Violent Predator, who prays on inebriated and vulnerable young women, and there is no greater indictment of him as a person than that.” Although the jury was not able to hear about it at the time of trial in this case, Bushor had sexually assaulted another female shortly before the November 2019 incident, and he eventually entered a guilty plea to indecent assault in 2020. Police discovered the second sexual assault after the first case concluded.
On Tuesday, Attorney Morrone asked for concurrent sentences, at the lowest end of the available sentence ranges. The Defendant, Devon Bushor; however, offered no comment whatsoever to the Court. He chose instead to refrain from making any statements to Judge Salisbury to consider at sentencing. Morrone indicated that his client intends to fully pursue his appellate rights to attempt to overturn his conviction.
Ultimately, Salisbury did impose the statutory maximum penalties on Bushor, a total of 12 years incarceration and an additional 3 years of probation. As an SVP, Salisbury ordered Bushor to comply with lifetime Megan’s Law registration requirements. Bushor will not be eligible to apply for parole until he completes the first 57 months of his 12 year sentence, which was also the longest minimum sentence available pursuant to the PA Sentencing Guidelines. When he imposed the sentence, Salsibury indicated he was moved by the victim’s impact statement to the Court, describing the entire ordeal. Salisbury quoted, “I may not be behind bars, but mentally I’ve been locked up since November 1st, 2019.” She continued, “Ever since the assault, I have felt dirty, disgusted by my own body. I suffer from extreme anxiety. I feel broken. I have been in a very dark place. I just want this to be over.”
Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://clinton.crimewatchpa.com/da/133000/post/bushor-sentenced-2019-fraternity-sexual-assault
