Washington County man sentenced to at least 3 1/2 years
A Washington County man accused of molesting three girls in 2016 was sentenced to 3 ½ to 7 years in state prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from those and other allegations.
Judge Michael J. Lucas imposed the sentence on James A. Burnsworth, 41, for whom court records list addresses in Marianna and East Bethlehem Township. Burnsworth pleaded guilty to counts of statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, simple assault, harassment and witness intimidation in a deal with county prosecutors.
Lucas ordered Burnsworth to complete five years of probation following the prison term.
The four cases against Burnsworth were filed by the now-defunct East Bethlehem Township police department in 2016.
Assistant District Attorney Craig McKay said the outcome of those “shows we take crimes against children very seriously.”
Burnsworth was accused of sexually abusing three girls on different occasions early that year. He also was accused of trying to keep a girl and her mother from testifying in an assault case that also was part of his plea.
“It was in everybody’s best interest that he accept the plea, and that it was accepted by the court, because it allows everybody to have closure after a lengthy and exhaustive case history,” said Burnsworth’s attorney, Joe Francis.
Jurors were picked last week for Burnsworth’s trial, which was set to begin this Tuesday had he not pleaded guilty.
He initially appeared before Lucas to enter a plea and receive a sentence Friday, but the judge revoked his non-monetary bond because he’d shown up late and “in a state of visible intoxication,” according to a court ruling. Lucas remanded him to the county jail for the weekend.