Avis man sentenced to state prison in assaults on three women
LOCK HAVEN, PA – Eric Montague King, 46, formerly of Lafayette Street, Avis, was sentenced Thursday by Clinton County President Judge Craig P. Miller to state prison. Miller imposed a maximum sentence of 7 years and 6 months, with a minimum of 3 years, 9 months, followed by a mandatory 3 years’ probation sentence imposed on all sex offenders. Miller also classified King as a sexually violent predator (SVP) which subjects King to the most intensive lifetime registration requirements permitted by Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law.
At sentencing, District Attorney Dave Strouse described King as a “classic predator” who will never change his behavior or be rehabilitated. Citing King’s extensive criminal history that spanned more than two decades, Strouse said, “every day that the Court can put the defendant in prison, is one more day that he cannot victimize a defenseless elderly or intellectually disabled woman.” Strouse asked the Court to impose a three year, nine month minimum sentence with a maximum of seven years, six months, which he described as the maximum sentence permitted under Pennsylvania sentencing laws.
On his own behalf, King pleaded for a time-served sentence. He claimed to have done nothing wrong, and told the Court he was a “good person, and would give people the shirt off my back.” King insisted that he was convicted as a result of a fabricated story and that the district attorney’s office refused to dig for the truth in the case.
President Judge Miller described King’s crimes as “disgusting” and just before imposing sentence opined that he was fully of the belief that King would re-offend if given the opportunity. Miller said that King’s acts cannot be tolerated anywhere in society, and that they “absolutely will not be tolerated in Clinton County.” King was convicted by a Clinton County jury on in December of 2021, following a one-day trial. The jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts of indecent assault, second degree misdemeanors, and one count of harassment, a third degree misdemeanor. President Judge Miller, who presided over the trial, also found King guilty of three additional charges of harassment, all graded as summaries.
King had been charged for making unwanted sexual and physical contact with three women on three separate occasions in Avis and Pine Creek Township in September and November of 2020. At trial all three of the victims testified against King. The first woman, a 36-year-old, testified that King has entered onto her property and groped her breasts from behind in September of last year. She described how King then forced her, dragging her, to the rear of her residence. She described the fear and terror that she experienced not knowing what King intended to do to her and she said she “fought with everything I had” to get away. The woman said her two large dogs heard her struggling and scared King away. The second woman, a 66-year-old, testified that she was walking her dog when she encountered King who was also walking his two dogs in Avis on September 23, 2020.
She said that King almost immediately started making overt sexual comments to her and stated how he could pleasure her in explicit detail. The woman testified that she tried to walk away and told King to stop, but he proceeded to walk after her and continue making explicit comments to her. Stating that she became fearful of King when he wouldn’t stop, she decided to stay in public areas and near main roads and did not return to her home out of fear that King would follow her to her residence. She described how King then made unwanted physical contact with her that was sexual in nature, which she told him to stop. She described how King proceeded to reach into his pants in an apparent attempt to pleasure himself as she was next to him. After approximately an hour, she said that King made a statement that he was “giving up” and that she was able to get away from him and go back to her home. She described being fearful of King and became emotional during her testimony. In total, she said she told King to stop making sexual comments to her “at least ten times”. The third woman, an 81-year-old, testified that King approached a man later identified to be King approached her in the parking lot as she exited the Dollar General store in Pine Creek Township in November of 2020. King offered to help put the items she had purchased into her car. King reportedly helped with her bags and then asked to sit with her in her car for five minutes. After the woman refused, King “asked for a hug” and then touched the woman’s genitals.
None of the women had ever met King prior to their assaults, but all three pointedhim out in front of the jury as the man they encountered. When he was arrested, King told arresting officer Sgt. Dennis Gill of Pine Creek Township Police that he didn’t do anything wrong, claiming that he “just hugged” the women.
Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://clinton.crimewatchpa.com/da/133000/post/avis-man-who-assaulted-3-women-sent-state-prison-classified-svp
