Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced today that a Westmoreland County man has been sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison for engaging in sexual conversations with a minor. He believed to be speaking with a 15-year-old girl, via social media, and then arranged to meet up with her.
The man, Mark Garris, 47, was employed as a school bus driver for the Greensburg Salem School District when he committed the crimes.
He was sentenced to 4 to 8 years incarceration followed by 8 years of probation. Garris was convicted of unlawful contact with a minor, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16 years age, and criminal use of a communication facility.
"This case serves as a reminder of the ways child predators use social media to gain access to victims. This defendant had every intention of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl," Attorney General Henry said. "While today's sentence ensures that this particular defendant will not prey on young people online anytime soon, I encourage parents to educate themselves on the dangers of children using the internet unsupervised and to have ongoing conversations with their kids."
This case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Angela Raver.
