LOCK HAVEN - Justin Dean Etters, 30, of Beech Creek, was sentenced today to a total term of 55 years in a State Correctional Institution for Rape of a Child and related offenses. Clinton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael F. Salisbury imposed the sentence on Tuesday morning at the Clinton County Courthouse.

Etters was charged in May of 2021 for the rape of an 8 year old boy.  Pennsylvania State Police had outlined in the criminal complaint that Etters had confessed to the crime when he was interviewed.  Etters had been held in lieu of $250,000 bail at the Clinton County Correctional Facility since his arrest.

Prior to imposing the sentence, Judge Salisbury told Etters that he was a "monster who must be removed from society."  Etters was also found to be a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) by the Court.  As an SVP, Etters will be subject to extensive registration requirements as a sex offender, if he is ever paroled from prison.  Etters will be eligible to apply for parole after serving the first 12 years of his state prison sentence.  

The Commonwealth was represented at sentencing by District Attorney Dave Strouse.