Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva granted yet another continuance in a case where the state is alleging a Tyrone doctor coerced juveniles into sexual acts in exchange for controlled substances and alcohol.
\nThe three-day trail for Dr. Barry Bender was scheduled to begin today, but Kopriva granted defense attorney Thomas Dickey\u2019s request for a continuance after learning Bender recently underwent a surgical proceeding.
\nLast month, Kopriva ordered the man to stand trial Aug. 5-8, stating she would only grant an extension in the case should Bender undergo the surgery.
\nOn previous occasions, Kopriva ruled for time extensions because of Bender\u2019s health. He has a history of heart problems.
\nAlthough a definite trial date has not been set, court officials believe the case will go to a jury in September.
\nBender is charged with a slew of crimes against children including involuntary sexual deviate intercourse, a felony, solicitation, corruption of minors and indecent assault, as well as a number of drug-related crimes, such as illegal distribution and possession.
\nIf convicted, he could face more than 90 years in prison.
\nThe charges stem from incidents that occurred at Bender\u2019s Pennsylvania Avenue, Tyrone apartment between 1998 and 2000.
\nPolice said Bender, and an accomplice, Gilbert Stevenson Jr., would entice young boys to his apartment and exchange alcohol, marijuana and cocaine for sexual acts.
\nStevenson went on trial in Blair County in March, and before the proceedings were over, entered a guilty plea to charges before the jury deliberated the case.
\nIn exchange for his plea agreement, Stevenson said he would testify against Bender during the doctor\u2019s trial.
\nStevenson will not be sentenced until Bender\u2019s charges are disposed of.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva granted yet another continuance in a case where the state is alleging a Tyrone doctor coerced juveniles into sexual acts in exchange for controlled substances and alcohol. The three-day trail for Dr. Barry Bender was scheduled to begin today, but Kopriva granted defense attorney Thomas Dickey\u2019s request for a continuance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}