Bolivar man gets prison time for sex assault

A Bolivar man will serve up to 20 years behind bars for the sexual assault of a young girl.

Bradley Grant Sarver, 47, was sentenced Tuesday to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison for an assault prosecutors said took place Christmas Day 2013. A 12-year-old girl claimed she was improperly touched by Sarver.

“I tried to live my life the best I could and I would never hurt a child,” Sarver said during the sentencing hearing before Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani.

Sarver told police he accidentally placed his hands over the girl’s genitals. In court during his two-day trial in June, he denied he intentionally had any sexual contact with his accuser.

Jurors deliberated less than a half hour before they found Sarver guilty of aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment.

About two dozen of Sarver’s friends and family members attended Tuesday’s sentencing and four relatives testified they did not believe he was capable of the crime and asked the judge for leniency.

Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Calisti said the victim and her family, who did not attend the sentencing hearing, would not consent to a defense request the judge waive the mandatory minimum sentence.

“For the most part you had a pretty uneventful upbringing but unfortunately in this case, a jury found you guilty of all counts,” Feliciani said.