John Christopher Forehand
A Lititz man who raped a pre-teen girl and offered sex to another girl through a social-networking site will spend 15 to 30 years in state prison.
John Christopher Forehand, 41, gave a tearful apology while hearing his sentence Friday afternoon in Lancaster County Court.
A psychologist had testified that Forehand is a pedophile who had strong sexual desires to be with children.
"He knew these acts could get him into serious trouble. He could not control himself," Dr. Robert Stein testified while declaring Forehand to be a sexually violent predator.
Forehand raped the preteen girl "nearly every day" over a four-year period, according to testimony, the first crimes occurring when the girl was 7.
Forehand then tried to solicit sex from a 13-year-old girl through Facebook and email.
Both victims were relatives, according to testimony.
"I'm truly sorry for my sins," said Forehand, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. "I wish both victims just move forward and make something positive of life and they can get past me.
"I still love them very much."
According to Christopher Jones, assistant state attorney general, the Facebook correspondence likely would have turned into physical abuse.
But the victim informed police about those messages, which included graphic details about oral sex, it was said in court.
An agent for the attorney general's office then assumed the role of the victim.
Forehand arranged a meeting with the "girl," but instead he was met by the agent and arrested.
"You were essentially trying to talk her into this," County Judge James Cullen said. "You were willing" to go through with it.
The judge noted that Forehand, a former Marine, was of "superior range" intelligence.
Forehand said, though his attorney, that he was sexually assaulted as a child — by a baby sitter and a friend's father.
Stein said Forehand's condition is incurable.
In the rape case, Stein said, Forehand sexually assaulted the girl hundreds of times.
"Too many to count," the victim reported, according to Stein.
"At some point in his life, sexual re-offending is likely to occur," Stein said.