Former local pastor sentenced for sex crimes in Pennsylvania

By Scott Desmit
Daily News
February 14, 2017

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/former-local-pastor-sentenced-for-sex-crimes-in-pennsylvania-20170214

Roy D. Harriger

A former pastor of a Lyndonville church serving a 15-year prison term for molesting girls was sentenced for similar charges in a Pennsylvania court last week.

Roy Harriger, 73, was sentenced to two-to-five years in prison for molesting a young girl in Mercer County.

The assaults took place while Harriger was serving as pastor of Mercer Community Church from 1991-97.

Harriger had been charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.

Unlike in New York, where Harriger vehemently denied molesting two granddaughters and took the case to trial, he admitted guilt before trial.

Harriger in 2015 was convicted in Orleans County Court and sentenced to 15 years in state prison. The trial, full of emotional and intense testimony, gave harrowing accounts of Harriger’s abuse of his grandchildren from 2000-2001 while he was serving as pastor of Ashwood Wesleyan Church.

He was returned to Pennsylvania in late 2015 to face charges in Mercer. His new sentence will be served concurrent with the New York term, meaning no extra prison time for Harriger. He is not eligible for parole until 2027.