A 29-year-old man admitted in court to sexually abusing a young girl in Falls Township.
Scott Melvin Galant, 29, who is homeless, pleaded guilty before Bucks County President Judge Wallace Bateman on Wednesday at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown Borough to charges of rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault, and indecent assault, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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Bateman sentenced Galant to 10 to 40 years in state prison as part of a negotiated plea.
The 8-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by Galant in 2018 at a residence on Beatty Drive in the Morrisville section of Falls Township.
In a letter before sentencing to the victim and her family, Galant admitted that he regretted his actions.
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“My daughter is the strongest child I know,” the girl’s mother said to Galant in court. “But she had to be. You left her no choice when you made her relive over and over again the nasty things you had done to her.”
According to court papers, Galant told the girl’s mother in a December 2018 phone call that he “inappropriately touched [the girl] and had to get it off my chest.”
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The incident was reported to police and Galant later contacted the girl’s mother again.
“I know I can’t fix this. Honestly, I don’t know what came over me. I messed with hallucinogens and f**ked up big time. I tried to kill myself for it. Now going to rehab. Word cannot express how sorry I am,” he wrote in the text message, police said.
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