LOGAN — A 46-year-old Wellsville man, Ray Reeder, will avoid prison time if he completes a one-year jail sentence and counseling, after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Reeder walked into 1st District Court Monday afternoon for sentencing, followed by his wife, family and supporters.
During the hearing, the victim read a letter she had written to the court. In it, she said she was trying to forgive the defendant for what he did.
Reeder was arrested in August 2014 after the teenage victim told a school councilor how Reeder had raped her. The councilor notified the Division of Child and Family Services and sheriff’s deputies who investigated the case.
In March of this year, Reeder accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to four counts of forcible sexual abuse, all second-degree felonies.
During sentencing Judge Kevin Allen went along with the attorney’s recommended sentence, warning Reeder that if he did not successfully complete sex-offender therapy after nine-months in jail, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He said, he couldn’t comprehend how the defendant could try to justify his type of behavior saying there is never justification for a 45-year-old man then, to engage in sex with a teenage girl. He went onto say how he was amazed at the strength and courage of the victim for trying to forgive what had happened to her.
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