Man faints before judge
About to face a lengthy prison sentence for attempting to meet a 5-year-old girl for sex, a twice convicted Megan’s Law offender stepped before a Butler County judge Tuesday, trembled, cried and then fainted.
Still, David P. Ellenberger of Summit Township declined the medics’ offer to leave the courtroom on a stretcher. He left in shackles: Ellenberger — a 45-year-old father of two sons — will serve 25 to 50 years in state prison.
Butler County Judge William Shaffer, who issued the sentence, also declared Ellenberger a Sexually Violent Predator who must register his whereabouts with state police for the rest of his life.
According to court records, investigators with the state Attorney General’s Office became aware of Ellenberger when he placed an advertisement on the Internet soliciting sex from children.
Pretending to be the father of a 5-year-old girl, an investigator in 2014 chatted with the defendant online and through text messages, eventually agreeing to meet in Cranberry Township so that Ellenberger could have sex with the child.
He was arrested at the rendezvous location.
At the time of his arrest Ellenberger was still on probation and already a registered sex offender, stemming from his 2006 Butler County Court conviction for disseminating child pornography.
In the new case, Ellenberger pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful contact with a minor and unlawful use of a communication facility.
Before sentencing, Ellenberger was evaluated by a member of the state’s Sexual Offender Assessment Board who determined he suffers from paraphilia and meets the criteria to be deemed a sexually violent predator.
Because Ellenberger has two Megan’s Law related convictions, prosecutors with the state’s attorney general’s office argued that he was subject to a mandatory prison term of 25 to 50 years. However, Ellenberger’s defense attorney Jose Hernandez Cuebas argued it’s unconstitutional to apply a mandatory sentence just because a defendant has two similar convictions.
When it became clear the defense argument was not successful, Ellenberger unfolded a handwritten statement he planned to read to the judge. It was then that he slumped onto the podium and then the floor.
Butler Ambulance and Butler Fire Department responded, bringing a stretcher into the courtroom. But Ellenberger decided to stay. He sat in a chair for the remainder of the proceeding, continuing to read the statement he’d written. He told the judge he was full of “remorse and disappointment,” and pledged to get a job as a mechanic and be a good father to his children when he is released from prison.
Ellenberger’s family did not attend the hearing. Only one person, a man who identified himself as Ellenberger’s best friend, attended and spoke on the defendant’s behalf.
After the hearing, Hernandez Cuebas said he planned to appeal Ellenberger’s sentence.
