A repeat sex offender deemed a “dangerous freak” by Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon was sentenced to 80 to 160 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl in June 2021.

It’s a de facto life sentence for David L. White, 51, of the 400 block of Penn Street in Chester, who was convicted at trial in August on charges of indecent assault on a person under 13, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and aggravated battery on a person under 13.

Scanlon imposed consecutive sentences on each charge, as recommended by Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, head of the Special Victims Unit. They included three consecutive sentences of 25 to 50 years on the indecent assault, unlawful contact and aggravated assault charges, as well as two consecutive terms of 2½ to 5 years on the corruption and endangerment charges.

White, who insisted on representing himself pro se with defense attorney Jeffrey Gold as backup counsel, was also deemed a sexually violent predator based on an evaluation and report from the Sex Offender Review Board .

“(You) admitted to a strong attraction to pre-pubescent females and that’s where you were diagnosed with pedophile disorder,” Scanlon said. “It’s just a strictly medical term. In layman’s terms, it just points out that you’re a dangerous freak.”

An hour to be condemned

Jurors heard from a 15-year-old who saw White assaulting the victim on a bed. She was 12 on June 27, 2021, when she said she saw the girl with her pants down and White “using his hands” to do something to her.

“I couldn’t tell (what) but I know his hand shouldn’t have been there,” the witness said. “All I saw was his hands moving in an inappropriate way.”

The boy said he texted his mother and she advised him to get his siblings together and try to catch the victim. He said he couldn’t get her to move away from White, and the mother sent another adult to take the children from Penn Street home.

The woman said White refused to turn the victim over. She said she told him the baby was taking a bath and she could hear running water, but she also had the girl and she appeared to be crying.

The woman gathered the other children who had been waiting on the porch and contacted the victim’s mother.

The mother confessed that she came to the house, but found it empty. He then found out that White was at his girlfriend’s place of work near Widener University and went there.

Upon arrival, she said she found White in the backseat of her car with the victim. She took the girl to a hospital, where a rape kit was performed.

The swabs contained DNA from a sperm fraction that was matched to White through a national database of registered stored samples. A second swab taken directly from White confirmed that his DNA was found in the girl’s rectum.

The forensic expert who provided that evidence said the probability that the DNA belonged to someone else was one in 160 octillion for the African-American population, or 160 followed by 27 zeros. To put that into perspective, she said the world only has about eight billion people, or eight followed by nine zeroes.

White candidly admitted to the jury at trial that he had previously spent 11 1/2 years in prison for raping two 7-year-old children in 1997, but claimed to be a changed man and denied the charges in the case.

He repeatedly disputed whether the DNA sample was obtained from “on” or “in” the girl and claimed that he had masturbated at one point, which could have been transferred to the girl from bedding or on a toilet seat.

But Kemp noted that no other DNA evidence was found except for White.

Kemp also pointed out that the girl’s medical examination revealed that the area around her private parts was irritated.

White said in a brief closing that he was prevented from giving the kind of defense he wanted because, in part, he could not examine the now 7-year-old victim on the stand.

The jury deliberated for about an hour before returning a guilty verdict on all charges.

Arguments for pronunciation

White did not contest the findings of the Sex Offender Review Board, although he refused to sign a form acknowledging that he had read and understood the sex offender rules and commented only briefly that he maintained his innocence. He asked for a sentence of 25 to 50 years.

Kemp argued that White’s criminal record and apparent inability to be rehabilitated were necessary for the 80 to 160 years he sought. Had he been tried consecutively for each of his first two victims, she noted, he would have already faced a mandatory life sentence.

Kemp said that following White’s previous rape conviction in 1997, he underwent sex offender treatment and was released on parole, but was found guilty of violating Megan’s Law in another state. He then violated parole for that offense and violated parole again in this case, and now has the highest possible prior record score used to calculate sentencing guidelines.

“The defendant’s actions in this case, as well as the defendant’s past history, cannot be ignored,” Kemp said. “The defendant has shown that when given the opportunity to interact with the children, the defendant will sexually violate them.”

Scanlon said White’s refusal to sign the form is part of a pattern in his failed attempts to disrupt, confuse and intimidate the courts and prosecution through numerous baseless and frivolous motions filed in Common Pleas and state Superior Court, all being rejected.

White was classified as a repeat offender who deliberately committed these crimes after being given numerous opportunities in the past to rehabilitate, Scanlon said, and has never expressed remorse, regret, shame or apology .

The judge added that he had never heard a more pathetic or laughable defense than the one presented by White for the presence of his DNA and found him incapable of rehabilitation or living in a civilized society.

Scanlon said it is the court’s duty in this case to impose a sentence that ensures White “never, ever” has the opportunity to molest another child again.

In addition to the jail time, White was ordered to have no contact with minors, including the victim or minor witness in the case. He was given credit for time served since his October 14, 2021, arrest date.

White was also charged with possession of a weapon by a prisoner and possession of a criminal instrument in May 2023 while incarcerated at the Concord County Jail. Kemp withdrew his charges in the case on Wednesday.