Upper Providence man draws decades in prison for rape of child
Saying an Upper Providence man is a danger to society, a judge sentenced him to decades in prison for sexually assaulting an underage girl on multiple occasions while she was in his care.
“I find that the defendant is a danger to our children. I conclude this defendant cannot exist in a free society,” Montgomery County Judge Thomas P. Rogers said on Thursday as he sentenced Richard Alan Beener Sr. to 20 to 40 years in a state correctional facility.
Beener, 62, of the 600 block of Bridge Street in the Mont Clare section of the township, showed no emotion as the judge imposed the punishment and he declined to address the courtroom before learning his fate.
The sentence ensures that Beener won’t be eligible for parole until he’s well into his 80s and he will remain under court supervision for the rest of his life.
Earlier this year, during a nonjury trial, Rogers convicted Beener of charges of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault of a child under 13, corruption of a minor and indecent exposure in connection with incidents that occurred between 2003 and 2009 and which involved a girl who was under the age of 13.
Turning down a defense request for a more mitigated county jail sentence, the judge explained he arrived at his decision that state prison was appropriate after hearing the victim’s “courageous” testimony at trial and reading a sex offender risk assessment report compiled about Beener.
“This is the first time I ever saw language like this in a risk assessment report,” said Rogers, quoting from one report that estimated Beener is twice as likely to recidivate as the “typical sexual offender.”
Last year, Beener initially pleaded guilty to two felony counts of rape of a child however, while awaiting sentencing he decided to withdraw that guilty plea and instead sought the non-jury trial, which was held in February before Rogers.
Assistant District Attorney Emily D’Aguanno prosecuted the case and argued for a sentence of at least 55 years imprisonment for Beener.
“This defendant committed unspeakable crimes, multiple times over six years,” said D’Aguanno, arguing that imposing a lesser county jail term would be “unfathomable.”
Defense lawyer Basil D. Beck III argued for a county jail term for Beener, arguing it would be “sufficient and just.”
“It’s not like he’s a 25-yearold man we have to worry about going out on the streets at night and creating mischief. He’s not going to be a threat to anyone,” argued Beck, referring to Beener’s age.
According to court documents, the investigation of Beener began in September 2018 when a 21-year-old woman reported to Upper Providence detectives that Beener sexually abused her on multiple occasions when she was between the ages of six and 12 and in Beener’s company at various locations in the township. Most of the incidents occurred between 2003 and 2009 while she was visiting Beener’s home, according to the criminal complaint filed by Upper Providence Detective Shea S. Johnson.
The abuse included various sexual acts and inappropriate touching and Beener sometimes used “the promise of toys or gifts” during the incidents, according to the arrest affidavit. Beener also masturbated in view of the girl, who resided in Chester County, and showed her pornographic movies, detectives said.
“Richard Beener would give the victim United States currency, specifically quarters and twenty dollar bills and would instruct the victim not to tell anyone about the sexual assault incidents,” Johnson wrote in the criminal complaint.
It’s not the first time Beener has been in trouble with the law.
In January 2016, Beener, then 55, was sentenced in county court to two years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure in connection with a June 2014 incident near his home.
With that guilty plea, Beener admitted that he exposed his genitals in a public place, in view of others, under circumstances in which he knew or should have known that the conduct was likely to offend or alarm others.
That previous investigation of Beener began about 6:30 p.m. June 6, 2014, when a woman notified Upper Providence police that Beener had exposed himself to her and her toddler daughter while he was standing naked behind a closed glass storm door of his home, according to the 2014 criminal complaint. The victim told police she observed Beener expose and grope his genitals while looking in the direction of her toddler daughter.
“(The victim) related that she yelled and Richard Beener backed away from the doorway, disappearing into the residence,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit at the time.
The woman sent her daughter away from the area, police said. When Beener reappeared at his door, fully clothed, the woman confronted him and yelled about his exposing himself in view of her daughter. Beener allegedly denied the conduct, claiming he was “simply trying to give her a balloon,” according to the 2014 arrest affidavit.