Predator sentenced in child sex assault

BY STACI WILSON

A former Hallstead man will spend 54 months to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl on several occasions over the course of six months in 2010.

Christopher Nabinger, 33,Windsor,N.Y., told the court he knew what he did was wrong. “I feel very terrible about it,” he said. “I’m willing to get the help I need… to make sure it does not happen again.”

He was sentenced on one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 Thursday by Susquehanna County President Judge Kenneth Seamans. He was also sentenced to 10 years probation, consecutive to the prison term. The felony carries a lifetime sexual offender registration requirement.

The judge called Nabinger’s behavior “detestable.”

The Susquehanna County Independent does not identify the victims of sexual assault.

Following an assessment by the sexual offenders’ hearing board, the court on Jan. 27 determined Nabinger to be a sexually violent predator.

Before the judge issued the sentence, Nabinger’s wife, Daisy, and his mother took the stand to ask for the court’s mercy and leniency.

The two women were among about 10 people who gathered at the hearing to offer their support for Nabinger.

His mother, Jacqueline Nabinger, described Nabinger as a “good man” and said he would carry the guilt she said he feels for the rest of his life.

She also said her son had not had an easy life, suffered a serious illness as a child, was bullied and treated as an outcast.

“I don’t want one crime to overshadow all the good he has done for his family,” his mother said.

Defense attorney William Peters said his client was not a predator and that the sexual assaults took place over brief period of time – a point District Attorney Jason Legg disputed in his closing.

Peters asked the judge to issue a sentence in the low range. “Christopher is in his own jail right now,” Peters said.

Legg said, “It’s important to face the stark reality that we’re dealing with a pedophile.”

He also said that the child was assaulted five to 10 times during in the six month time period and to mistake it as a singular event “downgrades what occurred.”

When entering his plea on Sept. 2, 2011, Nabinger admitted to having oral sex with the child.

The district attorney said he was disturbed by the excuses for Nabinger’s behavior given by his family members.

Legg also pointed out that Nabinger offered no apology to the victim when he addressed the court.

“The bottom line is there is a 10-year-old girl whose life was destroyed,” Legg said.