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January 11, 2005

Allentown man gets prison for sexual abuse of girls

He must serve 9-24 years for 'absolutely despicable' crimes.

An Allentown man who committed what a judge called ''absolutely despicable'' crimes of cruelty on two children was sentenced Monday to nine to 24 years in state prison.

Lehigh County Judge William E. Ford said he has heard physical and sexual abuse described numerous times from people on the witness stand, but nothing could have prepared him for a 60-minute videotape of Mark Brensinger's two victims, one of whom was a 5- or 6-year-old girl. The other girl was abused from ages 9 to 11.

''Watching that was one of the most difficult things I have ever done as a judge,'' Ford said Monday before sentencing Brensinger, 33, who pleaded guilty in August to sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography and other offenses.

Ford watched the videotape during the plea hearing. It was a compilation of scenes culled from hundreds of tapes police seized from Brensinger's Liberty Street home.

In many of the scenes, the girls were gagged and their wrists and ankles were bound. One victim wore a blindfold in some scenes. The girls were dressed in cheerleader outfits and sneakers.

The tapes didn't show explicit sexual acts, and many of the scenes focused on the girls' feet.

''That was a minuscule snapshot of all the videotapes combined,'' said Allentown detective Ralph Romano, who put together the videotape.

Brensinger told police that he would never hurt the victims or anyone else. ''Obviously, that was not the case,'' Romano said.

The judge said he found two scenes particularly disturbing. The girl in one scene appeared to have trouble breathing and struggled against her bindings. Brensinger tried to quiet her and didn't release the restraints or gag.

Another scene showed the girl's feet being lifted off the floor. At first they are still. Then they kick wildly as if she is being suffocated.

''If that is not unusual cruelty, I don't know what is,'' Ford said.

The judge said the tapes showed a sad transformation in the eyes of the one girl who was abused over a longer period than the other victim. Her eyes at first showed fear and later acceptance and resignation, the judge commented.

Brensinger's pleasure came at the expense of two innocent children, Ford said.

The judge found that Brensinger met the legal requirements to be classified as a sexually violent predator under the state's Megan's Law. Brensinger will have to register his address for life with state police, and day care centers, schools and other entities can be told his whereabouts upon request.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said Brensinger can't control his impulses toward voyeurism, fetishism and sadism, and that lengthy incarceration is the only way to protect society from him.

Defense lawyer Glenn Clark asked for a ''reasonable'' sentence, saying that people who rape children sometimes don't get sentences as long as Brensinger faced.

Brensinger's stepsister said the judge didn't see other sides of Brensinger, whom she described as a good man who did something bad and needs help.

Romano called Brensinger ''a very sick man,'' who had videotapes of himself with the girls and with women. Brensinger also had taken videotapes when he was driving around schools, watching school bus stops and visiting malls. In his videotapes of parades, he focused on cheerleaders and their feet.

Brensinger, who was in a wheelchair because of a leg ailment, said he didn't think about the physical and emotional pain inflicted on the child victims. ''I know what I did was totally selfish,'' he said.

He said he knew it was wrong but he did it anyway.

Posted by Nealus at January 11, 2005 07:50 PM

Comments

I am beyond sickened by this story... I heard from someone that a guy I dated for a few months in college was in jail. I looked up his name and found this article. When I saw it was about sexually abused kids, I didn't think it was him until I started to read about what was on the videotapes. This is what he did to me! In the beginning sex was somewhat normal, then slowly he asked me to dress up, asked me to wear a blindfold... I freaked one day when he tied me up and put a noose around my neck, choking me until I was unconscious! When I came to he tried to apologize and wanted to show me the videotape... clearly excited. He took a video WITHOUT my permission!!! He was a sicko then who almost killed me and I got away from him... thankfully. I can't believe he did this to children!!! I hope he rotts in hell!!!

Posted by: Jen Green at August 24, 2011 08:45 AM

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