Former Northampton man gets 12 to 14 years for child rape

NORTHAMPTON — A former Northampton man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court to the assault and rape of a Ware child younger than 14, as well as possession of child abuse material on his computer over a four-year period, an official statement said.

David C. Dunn, 45, was sentenced to 12 to 14 years in state prison followed by eight years of probation under the condition that he undergo sex offender treatment, cease contact with children under 18 and wear a GPS tracking monitor.

According to a statement from the Northwestern district attorney’s office, the sentence was adopted from the suggestions of prosecutor Anne Yereniuk, deputy director of the Child Protection Union, who argued the “heinous nature of the crimes” justified a lengthy prison time and probation. She noted that pleading guilty would also prevent the victim from testifying in court.

“The rape and sexual assault of a child brings with it devastating, lifelong impacts on victims, which is why the commonwealth believes this sentence is both just and in the interest of public safety,” Yereniuk said in the statement.

The statement noted that Dunn pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated rape of a child; five counts of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14; and one count each of open and gross lewdness, posing a child in a state of nudity, assault and battery, and possession of child sexual abuse material. The charges originate from the ongoing rape and abuse assault of a child in Ware and the cache of child sexual abuse material investigators found on Dunn’s computer.