‘I want him to pay for what he did to me’ teen girl tells judge as molester gets more prison time

A teenage girl didn’t hold back Tuesday afternoon when she told a Cumberland County judge what she wanted to happen to Roger E. Drake, the 41-year-old man convicted of molesting her.

“I want him to pay for what he did to me,” she said.

Judge Albert H. Masland then sentenced Drake, a Dauphin County resident, to 11 \u00bd to 23 months in the county prison, despite defense attorney Christopher McCabe’s plea for a time served sentence.

Masland did give Drake credit for the 277 days he already had spent behind bars pending trial on the child-sex charges filed by East Pennsboro Township police early last year. That means Drake could be eligible got parole in a few months.

Police accused Drake of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2017 and threatening to hurt her if she told anyone. He also was accused of making sexual comments to a 17-year-old, grabbing her buttocks and flashing his genitals at her.

Masland noted that Drake avoided conviction on the most serious charges he faced, including rape of a child, when a county jury found him guilty of indecent assault and corruption of minors in October. The jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours before issuing the verdict.

“I do not doubt that something happened, but quite frankly the jury was having a difficult time deciding exactly what happened,” Masland said.

McCabe said Drake had been involved in substance abuse but is now sober. “I’ve been working and doing my best to stay clean,” Drake told the judge.

When Masland gave her a chance to speak, one of the victims said the abuse inflicted on her changed her personality and made her into a self-destructive recluse. “I was cutting myself because of him,” she said.

The girl’s mother said Drake had devastated her daughter “emotionally, physically and mentally.”

“He took from her her self-respect, her self-esteem, her joy,” the mother said. “She became angry all the time…I believe these are permanent changes that no child ever should have to go through.”

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Perchinsky said Drake will have to register with state police for life as a sex offender.

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