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Justin Griest, 37, was sentenced to 22.5 to 45 years behind bars in a Chester County courtroom, said the District Attorney's Office in a release. He had previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with a string of 2019 incidents, prosecutors said.
The investigation began in March 2021, when authorities were tipped off about suspected child abuse that occurred two years prior, according to the release.
Griest, investigators were told, "began to expose himself" to two victims — then aged 9 and 11 — with whom he lived in the Spring of 2019.
While the victims' mother was away, authorities said Griest "would masturbate in front of the victims on multiple occasions." In a specific incident between May and July of that year, police believe Griest forcibly performed a sex act on one of the victims and then made them reciprocate.
All of the crimes took place in the same Modena Borough residence, prosecutors wrote.
“Griest is a child predator who violated his role as a trusted caretaker and engaged in horrific abuse of innocent and defenseless children," wrote DA Deb Ryan in a statement.
"These children showed bravery and strength by coming forward to investigators about their abuse," she continued. "We are very grateful that the defendant will be locked up for a long time and can no longer harm any child.”
At sentencing, Judge Analisa Sondergaard found Griest to be a "Sexually Violent Predator," a designation under Pennsylvania law applied to offenders who have "a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses."
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