From staff reports
A former Venango County man who had been a teacher and administrator at schools in Venango and Clarion counties has been sentenced to at least 25 years in state prison.
Michael O’Brien, 56, whose last listed address in court documents is Clearfield, had been convicted last month of 33 charges for raping and sexually assaulting a juvenile girl over the course of four years.
O’Brien was found guilty in a jury trial of single or multiple felony counts of rape-forcible compulsion, statutory sexual assault, incest of minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and aggravated indecent assault. He was also convicted of several misdemeanor counts of indecent assault.
Some of the sentences were concurrent and others were consecutive, resulting in the 25-to-70-year term.
Franklin state police arrested O’Brien in November 2020 following their investigation into the reported incidents.
Police said the girl had told her mother and police she had been sexually abused by O’Brien starting in 2015 when she was 10 or 11 years old and continuing for four years.
Justin Fleeger, an assistant Venango County district attorney, prosecuted the case against O’Brien.
