Court Opinion

ID: 9635620
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:56:48.669793+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:31.008262
License: Public Domain

BOWES, J.,
Concurring.
¶ 1 I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a finding that Appellant is a sexually violent predator. However, I reach that result on a different basis.
¶ 2 Appellant was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault based on allegations that he had engaged in oral sex with his half-brother’s stepson, B.D. and had forced B.D. to engage in oral sex with him. Appellant lived with his half-brother, his brother’s common-law wife, and B.D. during 1999. On July 17, 2000, Appellant, who was twenty-four years old and had no prior record other than a driving under the influence, tendered a guilty plea to one charge of indecent assault. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 3126. The factual basis for his guilty plea consisted of two sentences: “[Pennsylvania State Trooper Seth Helman] spoke with the victim, B.D., who was under the age of thirteen (13) years, was told that the defendant had had indecent contact with him. The defendant was later interviewed and said, ‘If you want me to say I did it, I will.’ ” N.T. Plea, 7/17/00, at 7.
¶ 3 At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth presented its witness, William G. Allenbaugh, II, a licensed psychologist and member of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board (the “Board”). Mr. Allenbaugh testified that he had a master’s degree in counseling psychology with training in the area of sex offenders. He based his opinion that Appellant was a sexually violent predator on the facts outlined in the police offense report, a report from Board investigator John R. Galski, and the pre-sentence report.
¶ 4 Mr. Allenbaugh’s written report, which is included in the certified record, stated that the police offense report contained the following factual averments. The victim’s mother and stepfather told police that Appellant always wanted to be around the children instead of adults. According to the victim, Appellant would tell him stories about Appellant’s girlfriends and what he would do to them in bed. Then, Appellant told the victim that “you can hump another boy like a girl.” Report, William G. Allenbaugh, II (“Report”), *844at 2.1 On several occasions, Appellant tried to get the victim into bed so that he could “hump” him; he succeeded on one occasion. Id. Next, Appellant wanted the victim to show Appellant his penis and perform oral sex on him. “The victim claimed that [Appellant] would touch his wiener and then have him do the same back. [Appellant] also put his privates into the victim’s mouth,” and then would perform oral sex on the victim. Id. This activity occurred a “couple of times.” Id. At the time of the report, the ten-year-old victim was on an unidentified medication and had difficulty remembering things. The report indicated that when confronted by police, Appellant stated, “[I]f you want me to say I did it, I will.” Id. However, the nature of the accusations that police made to Appellant were not delineated in the police offense report.
¶ 5 According to Mr. Allenbaugh’s report, the pre-sentence investigation report indicated the following. The only behavior to which Appellant admitted was brushing up against the victim’s genitals when the two were wrestling while fully clothed. He said that he felt guilty enough about that incident to plead guilty to indecent contact. He also admitted to talking about heterosexual “humping” with his nephew, but stated that the boy already knew the mechanics of heterosexual sexual intercourse. Id. at 3. Appellant stated that he was not sexually aroused when they had wrestled, he never thought about the victim in a sexual manner, and never fantasized sexually about him. Appellant denied any sexual contact with the victim and claimed that the victim’s stepfather was physically abusive toward the boy. Appellant also represented that approximately one year prior to these sexual abuse allegations, Appellant had informed police about some criminal activity of one of the friends of Appellant’s half-brother, and the half-brother threatened to retaliate and “take everything ... away” that Appellant had, Id. at 3. Appellant believed that the false charges of sexual abuse were motivated by the incident.
¶ 6 The Board investigator’s report provided the following details about Appellant’s background. He was the only child born to his parents, although his father had children by another woman. Those children did not associate with Appellant. Appellant’s father died before he was born. Appellant was described by unidentified people who the investigator interviewed as shy and lazy and as having a number of jobs for short periods.2 There was no indication that Appellant had received any mental health treatment. He drank heavily and was involved briefly with drugs. He had sexual intercourse twice, when he was drunk, and had one girlfriend but never was sexually active with her.
¶ 7 In his report and during his testimony at the sentencing hearing, Mr. Allen-baugh rendered his opinion that Appellant was a sexually violent predator by relying heavily on the victim’s unproven allegations regarding involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Report at 6-8. However, the charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse were nol prossed, Appellant admitted to no specific acts at the time of his guilty plea, and Appellant repeatedly denied ever engaging in involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with the victim. Based on this factual posture, I believe that reliance upon the unproven, nol prossed, and denied allegations of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse was improper. Since *845those allegations formed the basis for Mr. Allenbaugh’s opinion, as set forth below, I believe that Appellant is correct that there is insufficient evidence to support the finding that he is a sexually violent predator.3
¶ 8 At the onset, Mr. Allenbaugh purportedly premised his opinion that Appellant had engaged in grooming behavior towards the boy solely on the facts that he had wrestled with the child while clothed and had spoken to him about “humping.” Report at 5. However, Mr. Allenbaugh’s subsequent testimony irrefutably demonstrates that he relied upon the victim’s allegations about oral sex in rendering his opinion that Appellant engaged in grooming behavior, that he is a sexually violent predator, and that he has a mental abnormality.
¶ 9 Mr. Allenbaugh stated that grooming is a process where a person selects the potential victim, gets close to the victim, begins to look at that victim as a sexual object, engages in masturbatory fantasies about the victim, gains the victim’s trust by giving him or her gifts, and then sexually exploits the victim. N.T. Sentencing-Megan’s Law, 3/15/01 (“Sentencing”), at 21-22. Mr. Allenbaugh’s report indicates that Appellant specifically denied having any sexual fantasies about the victim, denied ever having an erection either when thinking about him or when in his presence, denied giving him gifts, and denied sexually exploiting him. The opinion that Appellant engaged in grooming behavior obviously can only be based upon the victim’s unproven allegations. See Sentencing at 25.
¶ 10 Next, Mr. Allenbaugh defined a sexual predator as “an individual who develops a relationship with somebody solely for the purpose of sexual exploitation; their motive is nothing other than that.” Sentencing at 27. Mr. Allenbaugh again stated that the fact that there was grooming in this case was a significant factor in his determination that Appellant was a predator. Then, when opining that Appellant was a predator, Mr. Allenbaugh expressly relied on the facts that Appellant had erections in the presence of the victim, had the victim perform oral sex on him, and performed oral sex on the victim. Sentencing at 27-28.
¶ 11 Finally, Mr. Allenbaugh premised his opinion that Appellant had a mental abnormality on the predicate finding that Appellant engaged in grooming behavior. Sentencing at 26. Mr. Allenbaugh concluded that Appellant had a mental abnormality or personality disorder known as personality disorder NOS with antisocial features. Sentencing at 28. This determination was based in part upon valid evidence, including' facts . about Appellant’s lifestyle, id. at 29-30; however, it also was premised upon the unsubstantiated allegation that Appellant had erections to young males, which Mr. Allenbaugh found “extremely significant.” Id. at 32.
¶ 12 I conclude that a determination that a defendant is a sexually violent predator cannot be based upon unproven allegations that are not established by the factual basis for a guilty plea and that are not supported by the nature of the charges to which a defendant has pled guilty, especially when the defendant consistently has denied the unproven allegations. Com*846monwealth v. Berrigan, 369 Pa.Super. 145, 535 A.2d 91 (1987) (en banc) (when imposing sentence, the sentencing court is not permitted to rely upon denied allegations established only through hearsay). This procedure is equivalent to the prohibited procedure whereby a sentencing court, when sentencing the defendant, has relied upon the facts of a crime which the jury determined the defendant had not committed. See Commonwealth v. Smithton, 429 Pa.Super. 55, 631 A.2d 1053 (1993). The determination of sexually violent predator status carries with it serious, life-long repercussions, and must be based upon facts of record, and not mere allegations of wrongful conduct, no matter how egregious.
¶ 13 In this case, Appellant pled guilty only to one count of indecent assault. The plea colloquy contains no specifics regarding the nature of that indecent assault. All charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse were nol prossed. During the pre-sentence investigation, Appellant admitted to brushing against the victim’s penis while wrestling with the fully clothed boy and to engaging him in male banter about heterosexual conduct. Indeed, he felt guilty about brushing against the boy, and Mr. Allenbaugh indicated that feelings of guilt are inconsistent with grooming and predatory behavior. In the pre-sentence report, Appellant denied having an erection after brushing the boy. He denied having any sexual feelings for the boy. He denied developing a relationship with him solely for the purpose of sexual exploitation. He also believed there was a motivation for the boy’s stepparent to make false allegations against him.
¶ 14 In conclusion, my review of Mr. Allenbaugh’s own definitions of grooming behavior and predator leads me to conclude that the findings that Appellant engaged in grooming behavior and was a predator were not based upon the only facts of record about the underlying offense, namely that he wrestled with B.D. while clothed and brushed against his genital area and that he engaged in male banter about heterosexual conduct. Any finding that Appellant developed a relationship with the victim for the sole purpose of sexual exploitation had to be premised upon the unproven, dropped allegations regarding oral sex. Thus, the opinions cannot be sustained since, as Appellant correctly notes, they are based on unreliable hearsay, mere suspicion, and conjecture.
¶ 15 Had Appellant pled guilty to the charges involving involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, then there would be an admission to the underlying behavior and reliance upon the victim’s allegations would be entirely proper.4
¶ 16 For the foregoing reasons, I agree with the majority that judgment of sentence be reversed with respect to the sexually violent predator determination and otherwisé affirmed.5

. This report is not dated.

. There was evidence at the sentencing hearing to refute this allegation as Appellant apparently had a steady job in a landscaping establishment.

. Appellant specifically raises the argument that Mr. Allenbaugh’s opinion was based on "conjecture, speculation, and inference," and on "limited and inadequate information, much of it unreliable hearsay.” Appellant’s brief at 13, 16. Appellant also points out that be has denied committing involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and that the only behavior that he admits is that he "may have” touched the victim's genitals while they were wrestling. Appellant’s brief at 18.

. Although we clearly cannot rely upon the defense testimony since the sentencing court rejected that testimony, I must observe that it is consistent with that of the Commonwealth. Specifically, Appellant's expert witness, Dr. Robert Mark Wettstein, observed that Appellant repeatedly denied having sexual contact with the boy and told Dr. Wettstein that he pled guilty to indecent contact because he had been wrestling with the victim and brushed up against his genitals. Sentencing at 59. Appellant admitted that he had sexual intercourse with women on two occasions and denied “any other sexual experiences in his lifetime whether with children or with adults of either gender.” Id. Appellant also denied having any other sexual problems or perversions. He told Dr. Wettstein that he never was sexually aroused by any males, whether adult or children.

. As a result of his conviction pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3126, Appellant would still be subject to the ten-year registration require*847ment found at 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9795.1(a)(1). Appellant has not raised any separate constitutional challenge to the ten-year registration requirement.