He will be required to register as a sex offender for 25-years.
Frederick, Md (KM) There’s some prison time in store for an Emmitsburg man who raped a 12-year-old girl. In Frederick County Circuit Court on Tuesday, John Warren Compton, 37, entered an alford plea to two counts of third-degree sex offense, and one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. Judge Scott Rolle gave Compton 30 years behind bars, with all but 10-years suspended. He will also be placed on five-years supervised probation after his release, and must register as a sex offender for 25-years.
“Quite frankly, he needs to serve every second of that time for what he did to this 12-year-old girl,” says State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.
Compton was arrested in November, 2018 for having sex with the victim. The Sheriff’s Office says Compton communicated with the girl through Snapchat, and claimed he was a 14-year-old boy. In August, the victim told investigators Compton picked her up at her grandmother’s house in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She said she was surprised that Compton was an adult, and not the 14-year-old boy he claimed to be.
He took her to his home in Emmtisburg, where he performed sexual intercourse on her.
After that, investigators were able to take over the girl’s Facebook account, and began a conversation with Compton. The man agreed to meet with the victim on Sunday, November 25th at Rocky Ridge Municipal Park, where he was arrested.
Smith says he would have preferred Compton receive a stiffer sentence, but he’s satisfied with the results. “These are tough cases for us. Obviously, we want to put guys like this in jail forever, which we can’t do,” he says. “We have balance that with the needs of the victim and her family, and what the victim has to go through in order to have a trial,” he said.
Smith says the victim and her family didn’t want to have her testify at a trial.
“A positive outcome in the sense that this creep was held responsible for his actions. He’s going to jail for a long time.; He’s going to be a registered sex offenders until he’s into his 60’s. Good riddance as far as I’m concerned,” said Smith.
By Kevin McManus