Smithsburg-area man sentenced in sex offense incident about 15 years ago
A Smithsburg-area man received a three-year state prison sentence Wednesday for sexual contact with a girl around 2008 when she was about 7 years old and he was around 50.
The sentence for Matthew John Anders, now 65, of Cavetown, is concurrent to a 10-year sentence Anders received in Frederick County Circuit Court last month for the second-degree rape of a young girl last summer.
In both the Washington and Frederick county cases, Anders entered an Alford plea.
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An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.
In the Washington County case, Anders entered an Alford plea to a third-degree sex offense in regards to a girl that was about 7 years old around 2008 and now is an adult. The incident occurred in Anders' home during a children's sleepover event.
The plea deal included dismissing another charge of third-degree sex offense involving a young girl who is now an adult, as well as dropping two second-degree assault charges.
Defense attorney Mallon Snyder said during Wednesday's plea hearing in Washington County Circuit Court that Anders asserts "his innocence." Snyder also noted the lack of witnesses, the girls' ages and that no one had "complained."
Assistant State's Attorney Christine Remsburg said an Alford plea is not to be an argument and told the judge the two girls will be affected by the incidents for the rest of their lives.
Remsburg told Judge Viki M. Pauler that sometimes the evidence doesn't equate to the harm done.
Remsburg said after the hearing that both victims preferred not to go through a trial and that with so much time passing, the case becomes a "he said, she said." There is a good chance the victims could be re-traumatized during a trial only to see a jury return a not-guilty verdict.
Remsburg deferred to the judge for sentencing, noting that the plea agreement called for the sentence to be concurrent with the Frederick County sentence.
The maximum penalty for the third-degree sex offense is 10 years in state prison.
Snyder asked for no more than six months, the top of the sentencing guidelines for the local case. The guidelines were probation to six months.
Sentencing guidelines are not mandatory and are an average of similarly rated criminal offenses across Maryland.
Anders chose not to make a statement to the judge before his sentencing.
Pauler said she recognized the state did not have a strong case and noted the sentencing guidelines, but told Anders "that's just too low."
"And I say that it's too low because of the harm that this offense has caused and continues to cause," Pauler said.
Pauler sentenced Anders to three years concurrent to the sentence in the Frederick County case. He had 295 days' credit for time served in the Washington County case.
After the hearing, Snyder had no comment on the sentencing.
With the Frederick County case, Anders already had to register as a Tier III offender. That means he must register with the state's sex offender registry for the rest of his life. He also is to have no contact with the victims or their families, nor is he to have unsupervised contact with minors.
Pauler said Frederick County will take the lead with probation.
In the Frederick County case, Anders is to have five years of supervised probation once he's released from prison, according to his online case docket. In that case he was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, with all but 10 years suspended.
The Frederick County case involved an incident with a 7-year-old girl in Thurmont in June 2022, according to court records.
The incidents with the girls in the mid- to late-2000s were reported after the 2022 incident came to light, according to charging documents.
The girls are related to a man who was a friend of Anders', according to court documents.
The Herald-Mail does not identify the victims of sexual assault.
That man appeared in court Wednesday to tell Pauler how the incidents had devastated his family.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County man sentenced for sexual contact with girl years ago
