A former State College psychologist who previously served a prison sentence for indecently assaulting two patients was convicted on Friday of sexually abusing a child over a period of eight years.
After a three-day trial in Centre County Court, a jury found Richard S. Lenhart, 63, guilty on all charges, including felony counts of rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.
The victim, now an adult, testified that Lenhart began inappropriate and grooming-type behavior with her at a young age. He first raped her, she said, in 2005, when she was eight years old, and continued to rape and sexually assault her through 2013 at a home and other locations in the State College area.
“This victim relied on the defendant to be a source of support and healing, and instead he abused his authority in order to sexually assault her for years,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, whose office prosecuted the case, said. “I commend the victim for having the bravery to come forward to face her abuser, and am grateful that the jury listened to the victim testify to the horror she endured at the hands of the defendant and then found him guilty of all charges. My office will always work hard to seek justice against those who harm children.”
The woman reported Lenhart to state investigators in 2019 after years of counseling, and he was charged in 2021. Lenhart denied wrongdoing and claimed the woman fabricated the allegations.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19.
It will be the second time he will go to prison for sex crimes.
Lenhart was first arrested in 2014 on charges that he used his practice to sexually assault two patients and submitted fraudulent insurance claims. He pleaded no contest in 2015 to two counts each of of misdemeanor indecent assault and insurance fraud and subsequently served a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
His license to practice psychology was revoked in 2013 following misconduct allegations that led to the initial criminal charges.
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