MORGANTOWN — A Morgantown man found guilty of sexual abuse of a child was sentenced Tuesday in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
John Kinsley, 80, appeared in court before Judge Susan Tucker on Tuesday afternoon to receive sentencing after pleading guilty in October to one count of sexual abuse of a child by parent, guardian, custodian or person of trust and three counts of first degree sexual abuse.
Judge Tucker considered her decision and sentenced Kinsley to three consecutive prison terms of one to five years, stating to Kinsley “you did not break her arm, you broke her soul.”
According to the plea order signed by Judge Tucker, Kinsley faced one to five years in jail for each of the sexual abuse charges and 10 to 20 years for the sexual abuse of a child charge.
Defense attorney Jennifer Yost, who represented Kinsley, asked Judge Tucker to consider an alternative sentence for her client, one that did not include prison time, due to the fact he had minimal criminal history before this case and because Kinsley suffers from several medical conditions. Kinsley’s wife, Dolores Kinsley, was also called to stand as a character witness for her husband.
Kinsley also made a brief statement for himself to the courtroom, “I just want to tell [victim] I’m sorry, I apologize. It shouldn’t have happened and I regret it.”
The victim’s mother also made a victim impact statement to the court for her daughter in opposition of an alternative sentence saying that her daughter was afraid to speak, but she was very proud of her for coming forward and being strong.
Perri DeChristopher, who was representing the prosecuting attorney’s office stated that in previous court statements and written documents Kinsley continuously tried to pass blame for his actions onto the victims parents and onto the victim herself. DeChristopher noted at one point the defendant said he touched her “because she wanted me to.”
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