BEAVER — A Rochester man will serve at least 25 years in prison after he was convicted of repeatedly raping a child over a decade beginning in the late 1990s.
Richard Fehir Jr., 47, was convicted in January of 16 felony charges, including rape, rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. According to court records, he was also convicted of seven misdemeanor charges, including endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault.
Beaver County Judge Dale Fouse sentenced Fehir on Thursday to between 25 1/2 and 51 years in prison.
Fehir was initially charged in March 2016 with assaulting three victims, but the case brought to the jury focused on only one.
The victim in the case and two other alleged victims testified in January during a trial on behalf of the prosecution, court officials said.
The first victim was the only one to read a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing. She, as well as other alleged victims in the case, will not be identified by The Times due to the nature of the crimes.
“Every aspect of my life is a result of the sexual abuse I have endured,” the young woman read to the court. She said she was 5 years old when Fehir first sexually assaulted her, and the abuse continued for a decade.
“Over the span of 10 years, I could not even put a number on the times he has sexually abused me,” she said.
“He is a master at manipulation and made me blame myself,” she said. “All those years, I thought I was protecting the ones that I loved, when really, he was already hurting them.”
In her statement, the woman described the impact the assaults had on her development and schooling. She explained the shame she felt and the embarrassment she carried with her as she dealt with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was afraid people would be able to see the abuse on my skin,” she said.
The woman asked the court to deliver the “harshest punishment” to Fehir.
“He may vehemently maintain his innocence until he is blue in the face, but that does not change the fact that he was found guilty of all charges brought against him,” she said.
A second alleged victim submitted an impact statement to the court but did not present it during the sentencing hearing. A copy of the letter describes the discomfort she felt as a result of sexual abuse.
“I do not feel I was able to live my childhood, teenage years or early adult life like most people,” she wrote. “After the first night, Richard Fehir molested me; confusion and fear began to plague me.”
She wrote he threatened her if she told anyone and caused her to fear of being alone or falling asleep without a light on.
“As a child, adults are always right,” she wrote. “Adults make the rules, and children are supposed to follow them.”
The young woman, too, asked the court to sentence Fehir to the maximum amount of time. She told the court he has fooled “so many” people into believing he is a “normal man.”
“Your decision here today could protect so many others from harm,” she wrote. “I grew up not afraid of the monster under my bed, but the monster in my bed.”
A third impact statement described fear for Fehir’s 3-year-old son and called on the court to help protect the child.
“I am here to ask for the maximum sentence for Rich so we can all protect his son … and the young girls who continue to fall victim to this monster,” she wrote.
Before the judge handed down his sentence, the defense called three people to testify on behalf of Fehir. Melanie Coleman of Industry testified she has been in a relationship with Fehir for the past eight years. Together they have one child, she said.
Coleman said her time with Fehir has provided to be “the best relationship” of her life. She described Fehir as a person of “humor, love, dignity and kindness.” Coleman told the court he was a supportive father to their 3-year-old son.
“He’s a great guy,” she said. Coleman told the court the man she knows would never harm a child and she asked that his sentence “not be for forever.”
In a statement to the court, Fehir apologized to Coleman and to the victim in the case that was prosecuted.
“I know this is unfair to you,” he said. However, Fehir went on to say his toddler son “loses the most out of this” because he will grow up without a father.
He asked the judge and district attorney’s office for a lenient sentence so that he can be reunited with his child.
“I won’t let anybody down,” he said.
As he delivered the sentence, Fouse, who served as the judge for the trial, said he considers Fehir “a danger to the community.”
Fehir chose not to testify in his trial. Officials at the time said he was not present for closing arguments last week after an “apparent overdose.” The trial continued without him, and his bond was revoked after the jury rendered its verdict, officials said.
He was remanded to the Beaver County Jail at the end of his sentencing hearing as he awaits assignment to state prison.