A former Bath woman who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy was sent to state prison Friday by a Northampton County judge who said she should get no breaks because of her gender.
Lisa Winarchick, 50, will serve two years and three months to seven years in prison on charges of statutory sexual assault and corrupting a minor. She'll also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
Winarchick had been drinking with the boy on the front porch of her Northampton Street home when she offered to perform oral sex on him, Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said in January when the defendant pleaded guilty.
The crime occurred sometime during summer 2013, but the boy felt embarrassed and kept it a secret until he was later confronted by his parents, Broscius said. During the incident, the boy felt "it wasn't right," pulled up his pants and went home, she said.
On Friday, Broscius said Winarchick has shown little remorse for how her actions have affected the boy, for whom the abuse was his first sexual experience. If Winarchick was a 50-year-old man and her victim a 15-year-old girl, "I think we'd all be screaming," Broscius said.
That was echoed by Judge Paula Roscioli, who said the victim is no less harmed because he is male.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Roscioli told Broscius.
Defense attorney Matthew Goodrich said he and his client never argued she should be treated any differently. But he argued for a county-prison sentence, saying Winarchick suffers from mental illness and has never been in serious trouble with the law before.
Goodrich said Winarchick is "mortified" by what she did, and knows that she will carry that stigma for the rest of her life. Two of Winarchick's family members testified in support of her, calling her a good person who made a mistake.
Addressing Roscioli, Winarchick fought tears as she read from a prepared statement.
"I need to apologize to the humiliation, the pain, that I have brought to so many lives," she said. by Riley Yates
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