11/30/16
by News Department on 11/30/16No Megan's Law sanctions in ruling...
President Judge William E. Baldwin ruled Tuesday in Schuylkill County Court that 29 year old Johnathan R. Grove, of Shamokin, who admitted to indecently assaulting a boy, must serve eight to 16 months in prison, but, in a precedent-setting decision, will not be subject to Megan’s Law sanctions.
Baldwin made the decision due to the fact that Grove was a juvenile when he committed the offenses. State police at Frackville had charged Grove with committing the assaults in 2003 in Gilberton.
Assistant District Attorney Debra A. Smith said the male victim was 11 and 12 years old when the assaults occurred. Chief Public Defender Michael J. Stine, Grove’s lawyer, said Baldwin’s ruling that the sanctions could not be imposed on Grove was the first of its kind in the state and will set a precedent in other cases.
However, judges in other counties will not be obligated to follow Baldwin’s decision, since it does not represent an appellate court ruling. Baldwin made the sentence effective at 9 a.m. today.
