Lynn man sentenced to 2 to 4 years for sex assault

SALEM – A Lynn mechanic found guilty last week of inappropriately touching a 15-year-old Beverly girl while providing her and her friend with alcohol two years ago will be behind bars for 2-to-4 years before being placed on probation for another three years.In Salem Superior Court Thursday morning, Pedro Pena, 51, who last lived at 223 Chestnut St., second floor, in Lynn, was sentenced by Judge David A. Lowy.Pena was found guilty last Friday by a 12-person jury, comprised of two women and ten men, of a lesser offense of indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14 and also guilty of four counts of providing liquor to underage children.He went on trial last week on two counts of rape of a child. The jury exonerated him on one charge and found him guilty of a lesser offense of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 on a second charge after deliberating for nearly five hours, returning a verdict just before 5 p.m.In handing down the punishment, Lowy pointed out the courage and poise the 15-year-old Beverly girl presented during her testimony to the jury while explaining to her that she should be proud saying “none of this was your fault. You were 15 at the time and you did not consent,” Lowy emphasized to the teen.Assistant District Attorney Karen H. Hopwood presented evidence at trial that on April 23, 2005, Pena and another male picked up two girls on Cabot Street in Beverly, bought a 24-pack of Corona beer and took the girls to Lynn where they consumed the beer and smoked marijuana.The girls left and went to church, called Pena to pick them up and went back to his home where the 15-year-old girl passed out several times after consuming more alcohol. Her 16-year-old friend testified she saw Pena with his shots off and on top of her girlfriend in the bedroom.Hopwood asked the judge to sentence Pena to serve at least four years in state prison and place him on probation when he gets out. She reminded Lowy that at the time Pena was 49 and the girls 15 & 16, and that he made a “conscious decision” knowing their ages. She pointed out to the judge that Pena picked them up twice, and “took advantage by furnishing them alcohol.”Although the victim was present, she chose not to make a statement before the court. Instead, Hopwood relayed to Lowy her feelings about being uncomfortable around older men, even relatives, and the emotional anguish, including nightmares, that she currently endures since the incident.In asking for a lower punishment, Pena?s attorney, Raymond D. Buso emphasized to Lowy that the state guidelines for the major crime, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, carries up to 24-months in prison. He also said his client could have taken a plea concession, but always maintained his innocence in the two counts of child rape.He said Pena is a mechanic by trade who has worked all his life, a shy man who has no record and meant no harm, as he apologized for him to the victim and her family saying he was sorry.Buso acknowledged there was “some sort” of non-consensual touching, but noted there was no penetration as he asked the judge to impose a split term of 2 and one-half year in prison, with six months to serve and place his client on three years of probation, which the judge declined.Pena did not take the stand in his own defense, maintaining his innocence.While on probation, Pena is not to have any contact with children under the age of 16, except with his nieces and nephews within perimeters set by their parents and ordered him to stay away from his accusers and their parents, receive sex offender treatment and counseling, register as a sex offender as the law applies and provide a DNA sample for the statewide blood bank.Pena was indicted by a grand jury in June of 2005 and had been free on $10,000 cash bail. The judge credited him the 10-days he had spent in custody on bail.Attorney Victoria Kelleher co-assisted Buso at trial as Pena?s defense team.