May 19, 2016 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – A Dunkard Township man who sexually assaulted two teenage boys on multiple occasions last year was sentenced Thursday to four to eight years in state prison.

Gary Lee Black, 53, pleaded guilty in December to two felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors, along with six misdemeanor counts of indecent assault in the assaults of the boys, ages 14 and 16, which happened between May 29 and June 19 of last year.

Black’s attorney, Gary Graminski, said the incidents happened while Black was “blacked out drunk.”

“Like when many people get very drunk and black out, bad things happen, and that’s what happened here,” Graminski said. “That doesn’t minimize what happened, but that’s the reason it happened.”

Black apologized for his actions in court, noting his struggle with alcohol.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just don’t remember it.”

According to court documents, Black approached each of the boys separately while they were alone in a bedroom of their mother’s home. On multiple occasions, he took his clothes off in front of them and asked them to do the same, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the boys punched him, pushed him off of them and told him “no” on several occasions. One of the boys told police after he was assaulted, he didn’t tell anyone about it “because he was scared of Gary Black,” the complaint said.

Black underwent an evaluation and was not found to be a sexually violent predator, but he must now register as a lifetime offender on the state police Megan’s Law website.

Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman also ordered Black to pay a $300 fine.