Newville man pleads to lesser charges in rape case
Kenneth Bunnell is accused of having sex with a mentally retarded 17-year-old girl.
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Article RatingA Newville-area man accused of raping a mentally retarded 17-year-old girl pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and indecent assault Tuesday.
Appearing before Cumberland County Judge Kevin Hess, Kenneth Bunnell, 30, of the 500 block of Middle Road, wore a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He said the sex was consensual and appeared to hesitate slightly when, after that, he was asked if he wanted to enter the plea.
After turning his head to the ceiling for a bit, Bunnell said yes.
“I will accept the plea,” Hess said.
First Assistant District Attorney Jaime Keating said the negotiated plea was in exchange for a recommended sentence of one year less one day to two years less one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised probation.
The girl has the mental capacity of a second-grader and, as such, could not legally give consent to sex, Keating said.
Bunnell, whom Keating said was working as a taxicab driver at the time of the incidents, teared up while telling the judge he has two young children who live in another state.
“I’m going to spend another year away from them,” he said of his pending incarceration.
Background
The girl was living with her grandmother in Penn Township during the time of the incidents, which took place between Feb. 7 and March 3, 2007, Keating said.
The grandmother was keeping Bunnell’s children, of whom Bunnell had custody, Keating said, and became concerned about the inordinate amount of time Bunnell was spending with the girl.
Questioned by a neighbor, Keating said, the girl said she and Bunnell were having sex. She testified during a preliminary hearing that Bunnell initiated sex, that she didn’t want to do it and that she didn’t fight him.
Bunnell, however, testified then that the girl made advances toward him, going to him while he was sleeping and forcing herself on him. He said they had sex four or five times and oral sex one or two times, Keating said.
Bunnell’s attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Anthony Adams, has said Bunnell was also in special education classes in school.
Hess will sentence Bunnell at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 4.
