Paul Brandon Price (Provided photo)
CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man accused of having sex with an underage teen pleaded guilty Wednesday in Clearfield County Court.
Paul Brandon Price, 31, an inmate of the jail, pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory sexual assault, F1; unlawful contact with a minor, F3; corruption of minors, F3; and indecent assault person less than 16 years of age.
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced him to a total of two to five years in state prison. Price, who according to court records has been incarcerated since December of 2015 on $50,000 bail, will receive credit for time served.
The charges stem from an incident Oct. 26, 2015 at a DuBois residence when Price had sex with a 15-year-old girl.
Prior to sentencing, there was a hearing to determine if Price should be considered a sexually violent predator. His attorney, Robbie Taylor, defended his client by stating that Price has a drug and alcohol abuse problem.
After hearing an expert’s testimony on her evaluation of Price, Ammerman ruled Price was not a sexually violent predator. Price will still have to register under Megan’s Law because of the nature of his charges.
Price addressed the court, saying he takes responsibility for his actions.
“I hope I can learn something in prison to make my life better,” he said.
Price also pleaded guilty in a second case to two counts of possession of a controlled substance; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of a small amount of marijuana. For these offenses, he was given two years probation that will run concurrent with his other sentence.
According to the affidavit of probable cause in the first case, police were dispatched to Jared Street in DuBois to investigate a report of statutory sexual assault.
The victim’s mother said she came downstairs in the residence and into the living room where she saw her roommate, Price on top of her 15-year-old daughter.
After the mother yelled, Price jumped off the teen. The mother told him to get out and that she was calling police. Price got dressed and left.
When police arrived they spoke to the victim. She told them nothing happened. She claimed they were thinking about having sex and both removed their clothing, but it didn’t happen. She refused to go to the hospital to have a sexual assault kit done. Police said she was very uncooperative.
Officers then tried to make contact with Price, who had left the area on foot. When they called his cell phone, a male answered but hung up after the officer identified himself.
Later when police tried again, a female answered the phone. She explained she knew about the situation, and that Price is addicted to meth and needed help. Price had admitted to having sex with the girl when he spoke with a friend, she said.
An officer then spoke with Price’s friend who stated she picked Price up near the residence and took him to Sheetz on North Brady Street that night.
She asked him if it was true that he had sex with the teen. He replied that he was having sex with other women and didn’t know why he even did it. Then he told her he could not talk about it anymore because it was making him “freak out.”
The victim’s mother contacted police again on Nov. 3, saying the victim was now admitting she had sex with Price.
In her second interview with police, the victim said they were in the living room when they started kissing and then had sex. Later when they had sex a second time, her mother caught them.