Perhaps the headline atop our Friday front page should have said “Monster” instead of “ ‘Molester’ gets 30 years.”
The story left us sad, shocked, confused – and mad as hell. And we suspect it did you, too.
John Hinton, 62, of Somerset, will spend the next 30 to 60 years in state prison. In all likelihood, he’ll die there. Deservedly so.
This horrible individual has admitted to sexual offenses against eight young girls at two Somerset Borough homes in 2010 and 2011. Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ann Primavera told Somerset County Judge John M. Cascio last week that prosecutors suspect there are even more victims – perhaps more than 20 in a sickening spree over more than two decades.
His past has also been under investigation in several other counties, including bordering Westmoreland.
Cascio’s welcome response was to impose three consecutive sentences of 10 to 20 years each.
“When I look at the background and the circumstances you utilized, that you took advantage of, to make these victims available to you, the consecutive sentences are warranted,” Cascio told Hinton.
The Somerset County investigation, as reported by our Randy Griffith, showed Hinton had met the children through his church.
How absolutely despicable.
“These girls were put in your trust and your care through adults of families at church,” Cascio said.
“These families trusted you. You violated that trust in the most severe way.”
Indeed.
How this pedophile was able to carry out these sick assaults for so long without getting caught is beyond comprehension.
We can at least take solace in the fact he finally has been stopped, sparing even more young girls from his grubby clutches.
We hope he gets the psychiatric help he needs – as he rots away the rest of his life in prison.
Editorials
Shed no tears for molester | Pedophile's spree spanned two decades
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No excuses for not voting
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Readers' Forum 5-21 | Gun laws, former inmates and 2nd chances
Regarding John Skubak’s letter of April 30, “A change of heart on background checks,” about Second Amendment rights: I want to go beyond that scope.
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Jim Scofield | War on terror has claimed many victims
We Americans are not the sole victims we seem to picture ourselves in the various terrorist attacks that have occurred here, as if these were purely the acts of some gratuitous, demented Islamic conspiracy.
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Belated respect, appreciation | Korean War vets feted at dinner
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Bill Shuster | Obamacare will severely impact seniors
As we approach summer, we get closer to 2014 and the dreaded launch of Obamacare.
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Readers' Forum 5-19 | Preserve the 'million man' Army
The current guidance from the Department of Defense is that the United States will no longer conduct long-term stability operations despite 50 years of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Vietnam and Korea.
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Michael Young and Terry Madonna | Not your grandfather's Pennsylvania anymore
When asked to describe Pennsylvania, Washington political consultant James Carville, who helped elect Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey and U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford, once declared that the state was “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.”
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