“What kind of society have we become?” asked Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe as she passed sentence February 18 on Brian McCutchen, 24, who will participate in sex-offender treatment in prison, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported February 19. “All [of the libraries’ good work] is at risk because of what one man did,” added Dembe, a former board member of the Free Library’s Friends group.
Library staff reported to authorities that before the attack, McCutchen had been repeatedly kicked out for viewing pornography and publicly masturbating at library computers.
Assistant District Attorney Deborah Harley called the crime “unspeakable . . . an unfinished murder” and said that a year later the girl is still unable to dress or feed herself and is “afraid to go anywhere alone.” McCutchen’s attorney Everett Gillson told the court that his client has a history of abuse, mental illness, and homelessness.
Posted February 25, 2005.