***CASE UPDATE***
A Chester County man was sentenced to 13 to 35 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty last week to repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting an underage girl at a West Lampeter Township home.
Judge Jeffrey Conrad sentenced Anthony Charles Lawrence, of Coatesville, after he pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age, one count each of statutory sexual assault, rape forcible compulsion and unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of corruption of minors.
The case had been scheduled to begin trial the same day before Judge Conrad when Lawrence instead submitted the guilty plea and was sentenced.
Lawrence, 44, raped the victim multiple times at a residence in the 400 block of Lampeter Road during a seven-month-long pattern of sexual abuse that lasted from late 2021 until mid-2022.
The teenaged victim told police that Lawrence, then 40, began abusing her in October 2021. Lawrence continued to sexually assault the victim regularly until June 2022.
As part of his sentence Lawrence must register as a sex offender and will be evaluated to determine if he is a sexually violent predator.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo prosecuted the case.
West Lampeter Township Police Detective Sergeant Steven Heinly filed the charges.
Original Post--
West Lampeter Police conducted an investigation into the suspect, Anthony Charles Lawrence Jr, for alleged sexual assault of a minor female. The alleged assault was to have occurred over the course of several months beginning in September 2021 and continuing through June of 2022. Det Sgt Heinly conducted an investigation and ultimately received approval from the Lancaster County District Attorney's Special Victims Unit to file charges against Lawrence. Charges were filed in front of MDJ Benner and a warrant was issued for Lawrence's arrest. Lawrence turned himself in to police on Tuesday 21 February 2023. Lawrence was arraigned before MDJ Benner and was committed to Lancaster County Prison on $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for early March. Lawrence is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
