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Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County judge is being asked to render verdicts on child rape, sexual assault, pornography and related charges in a case where the defendant's cellphone video recordings were offered Thursday in court as evidence against him.
Richard Scott Sensibaugh, 37, asked for the trial-by-judge on 59 counts of child sexual offenses filed in 2021 by state police at Hollidaysburg.
While defense attorney Lyle Dresbold of Pittsburgh conceded to Judge Jackie Bernard that guilty verdicts would be appropriate for some offenses, Dresbold challenged other counts for various reasons.
First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith, who argued against the challenges, asked the judge for guilty verdicts on all counts.
"It is rare when we have this kind of evidence," Smith told Bernard in reference to the video recordings. "Every sexual act that man did to these girls was documented and played for this court."
Sensibaugh was in a relationship with a Greenfield Township woman in 2021 when the woman, who found a cellphone video of Sensibaugh sexually assaulting her sleeping 5-year-old daughter, called police.
Through further examination of the cellphone, state trooper Todd Roby found 17 videos and six photographs used in support of charges filed against Sensibaugh.
Those charges accuse Sensibaugh of videotaping his sexual acts with the sleeping 5-year-old child and additional sexual acts with a second 5-year-old child. With the second child, the video showed Sensibaugh trying to entice her into oral sex by saying: "I'll give you mints."
Sensibaugh, who was in the courtroom while the videos were played for the judge, opted against watching them and regularly bowed his head as they played.
When Roby testified Thursday, he described the 17 videos as unique, with each requiring action to start and to end the recording. His research identified three dates in March 2021 associated with the recorded sexual assaults, based on when those video files were transferred into the cellphone's trash folder.
State Trooper Eric Glunt, who responded to the mother's report of finding the video of Sensibaugh sexually assaulting her daughter, said he arrested Sensibaugh and questioned him at the state police barracks in Hollidaysburg. He said the mother admitted to having an "off and on relationship" with Sensibaugh.
Smith also played the video of Glunt's interview with Sensibaugh, where Sensibaugh told the trooper: "I don't want to do it. I really don't. ... I need help."
Sensibaugh declined to take the witness stand, and Dresbold offered no witnesses on behalf of his client.
After the proceedings concluded, the defense attorney said he opted for the trial by judge as a way to ensure that his client's rights are protected.
"It was important to Mr. Sensibaugh that we did everything possible to preserve his rights and that I did everything I could on his behalf," Dresbold said.
They also rejected the option of a jury trial.
"We did not want to further traumatize any of the other participants in this case," he added. "And we also trust the judge to treat us fairly."
Bernard has seven days to review the evidence and the challenges before issuing verdicts on each of the 59 counts.
If found guilty, the judge said she would order a presentence investigation. Once sentenced, Dresbold will be in a position to initiate appeals to a higher court on Sensibaugh's behalf.
In 2022, Dresbold challenged the legality of the procedures police used to search the cellphone revealing the sexually explicit videos. Judge Timothy M. Sullivan, who heard the challenge, concluded that the mother had the authority to give police permission to search the cellphone, which revealed Sensibaugh's videos.
The judge's ruling reflected the mother's testimony that she and Sensibaugh jointly selected the phone's passcode and that she was paying the cost of maintaining the phone.
Online court records show Sensibaugh has been in the county prison since April 3, 2021.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.