A Lancaster County man convicted in May of repeatedly raping a child over five years, beginning when the victim was nine years old, will serve up to 50 years in state prison, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
Timothy Barker, 48, was found guilty by a Lancaster County jury of rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of a child by a jury after a two-day trial before Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
Reinaker imposed the sentence and heard the victim's impact statement in court, noting that the victim expressed forgiveness while the defendant only spoke about the impact on himself.
At Barker's trial in May, the jury needed just 30 minutes of deliberation to reach its verdict, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick prosecuted the case and presented testimony from the victim that the abuse began when they were around 9 and escalated until they were 13.
“All sex abusers are cowards and bullies,” Haverstick said. “He’s trying to intimidate my victim one last time like he did when she was a [child]. [The victim] was incredibly brave to take the stand. She isn’t scared of him anymore and he can’t bully her anymore.”
The victim disclosed the abuse when she was 17 and was interviewed in 2023 by the Lancaster County Children’s Alliance after a referral was generated by a ChildLine report.
