By Jenna Portnoy
The Morning Call
February 9, 2010
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a6_2marmon.7172250feb09,0,509304.story
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| Undated photo of Paul Marmon (Contributed photo) |
Paul Marmon, once a pastor in the city, had explicit chats on Internet with Montgomery County girl
A Montgomery County judge called a former Allentown minister and sexually violent predator ''every parent's worst nightmare'' Monday before sentencing him to up to five years in state prison and a decade of probation.
Paul A. Marmon, 63, of South Whitehall Township pleaded guilty last year to having sexually explicit Internet chats with a 15-year-old girl and keeping child pornography on his computer. He was arrested Sept. 2, 2008, after leaving the girl a bag of gifts under a tree at a park near her home in Lower Providence Township.
Marmon, a minister of St. James United Church of Christ from 1985 to 1987, has been behind bars ever since and will serve 10 to 43 more months. A review board deemed him to be a sexually violent predator, meaning he must comply with Megan's Law registration rules for the rest of his life.
Marmon's defense attorney, Daniel
McGarrigle, did not object to the classification.
''Any parent in this county and in this country that goes to sleep tonight that has young children that are vulnerable, what they fear most is people like you creeping into the lives of their children and harming them,'' Judge William J. Furber Jr. told Marmon, who is barred from contact with the victim or her family and unsupervised contact with any minor, among other restrictions.
Before sentencing, the girl's father told the judge Marmon communicated with his daughter online for five months. Marmon told the girl he was 19, he wanted to sleep with her and quoted Bible verses to her, according to her father.
''I just want to make sure this guy doesn't get out, because this has caused a real mess for my family,'' he said. ''My family's extremely upset by this.''
Marmon apologized to the victim's family for what he called ''selfish and sinful choices.''
''I hope everyone I hurt can be healed,'' he said, adding: ''I believe I have changed. That doesn't mean I don't have to change more, but I've changed from what I was two years ago.''
During a break in the hearing, Marmon turned around to address five people his lawyer said were his grown children and a counselor from the prison ministry. Marmon had tears in his eyes and clutched a crumpled paper from which he read.
Marmon, who came to the Allentown church from St. Luke's UCC in North Wales, Montgomery County, has a history of sexually inappropriate behavior, although a charge of indecent exposure from the mid-1970s was expunged from his record. Furber said the incident, which involved a 12-year-old girl, as well as a liaison with a married woman prompted Marmon to leave his profession.
Steven Samuel, a psychologist who testified on behalf of the defense, evaluated Marmon on three occasions and confirmed diagnoses of bipolar disorder, for which he is on medication, and a type of sexual disorder called paraphilia. Marmon is finally motivated to seek treatment because ''no one came down on him the way they have now,'' Samuel said. ''In the past, he and others were in denial.''
Deputy Attorney General Michael Sprow said Marmon pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including the third-degree felonies unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, criminal use of a computer and 66 counts of possessing child pornography.
Contact: jenna.portnoy@mcall.com or 610-820-6586
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