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Deal in works for Wilkes-Barre to recover Academy Market demo costs

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Mother sentenced to prison for endangering toddler found hanging out window

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Plymouth man who is a lifetime Megan&#8217;s Law registrant due to a rape conviction nearly 20 years ago told a Luzerne County judge Friday he can&#8217;t remember assaulting a mentally disabled woman in his vehicle earlier this year.</p><p>Charles David Kocher, 45, claimed he &#8220;blacked out&#8221; after consuming a large amount of beer when he drove the woman to an isolated area on Breaker Road, Hanover Township, bound her wrists with duct tape and a shoelace and assaulted her Feb. 9.</p><p>His attorney, Thomas Cometa, said Kocher has an alcohol problem and sought medical treatment at least 12 times for &#8220;blacking out&#8221; since 2008.</p><p>Kocher&#8217;s plea for leniency due to his alcohol problem didn&#8217;t deter Judge Michael T. Vough.</p><p>Vough sentenced Kocher to eight to 16 years in state prison on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and strangulation. Kocher pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 10.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very sorry &#8230; I don&#8217;t remember it; I blacked out,&#8221; Kocher said.</p><p>Before Vough imposed Kocher&#8217;s sentence, Kocher faced the woman and her mother who called the incident &#8220;a nightmare.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not the same person. I don&#8217;t want to be here today, I don&#8217;t want to look at him,&#8221; the woman told Vough. &#8220;It&#8217;s like living a nightmare.&#8221;</p><p>The woman&#8217;s mother said her daughter has trouble sleeping and often cries, &#8220;to make it go away.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s hard being in the same courtroom with him,&#8221; the mother said.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Angela Sperrazza said Kocher drove the woman to a parking lot on Breaker Road, a road that is not heavily traveled, where he tied her wrists with duct tape and struck her multiple times.</p><p>Sperrazza said Kocher was arrested when a Hanover Township police officer spotted the suspicious vehicle.</p><p>Cometa said Kocher&#8217;s alcohol problem clouded his judgment and memory.</p><p>Kocher has been jailed since his arrest, and Cometa said he has changed since he hasn&#8217;t consumed alcohol.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, there is no excuse to what happened,&#8221; Cometa said.</p><p>Kocher is listed on the state police Megan&#8217;s Law website as a lifetime registrant due to raping a woman at knifepoint inside a Plymouth residence in April 2000. He was sentenced to four to eight years in state prison, and was released on parole June 21, 2004, according to the state Department of Corrections.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Charles-Kocher-02092018.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kocher </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Charles-Kocher-02092018.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kocher </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Plymouth man gets state prison for sex assault on mentally disabled woman