CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Clarion woman who pleaded guilty to child rape and related charges was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison on Wednesday morning in the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.

President Judge James Arner delivered the term to 37-year-old Stephanie Andreas, formerly of Clarion, after she pleaded guilty in July to two counts of child rape as well as one count of corruption of minors and one count of child endangerment.

Arner sentenced Andreas to serve a minimum of 11 years and a maximum of 22 years for two counts of child rape. She also received a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years for the charges of corruption and child endangerment.

Andreas is currently serving two to four years at the state prison in Cambridge Springs on two separate charges related to a March 2016 robbery in which Yakteen (her co-conspirator), of Clarion, was mugged and attacked. The investigation also revealed that Andreas sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy.

All of her sentences will be served consecutively, meaning Andreas will serve a minimum of 14 years before being eligible for parole.

Andreas will also be required to register on Megan’s Law website as a Tier III sex offender which requires a lifetime registration.

Before Judge Arner pronounced Andreas’ sentence, he had some sharp words for her.

“No child should be put through what you put (the victim) through,” Arner said. “Likely, your actions will have a lifetime effect on (her).”

Assistant District Attorney Drew Welsh also spoke about Andreas.

“This is one of the worst things (a person) can do to a child,” Welsh said. “I do believe she has remorse, but we ask the court for her sentences to be consecutive.”

Public Defender Eric Spessard, who represented Andreas, said she has accepted responsibility for her actions and hopes “this is a turning point in her life and (she) can try and pick up the pieces of her life.”

Spessard also pointed out that Andreas did testify against Bassam Yakteen, the man who was found guilty last week of raping the victim.

“There is little to mitigate this case, but she did help the Commonwealth secure a conviction against Mr. Yakteen,” Spessard said.

Andreas had no explanation for why she allowed it to happen.

Details of the child rape case:

Clarion Borough Police Chief Bill Peck filed numerous felony charges against Yakteen and Andreas in December of 2016.

A criminal complaint was filed at District Judge Duane Quinn’s office following an investigation which began on November 16 after Clarion Borough Police received a Children & Youth Services (CYS) report involving the sexual assault of an underage girl.

Victim Interviewed

The victim told a caseworker that she was sexually assaulted by Yakteen multiple times at a residence in Clarion Borough. She stated that Andreas forced her to have sex with Yakteen.

Andreas allegedly told the victim that she would give her money if she obeyed and had sex with Yakteen. Andreas allegedly watched the victim having sex with Yakteen, according to the criminal complaint.

On December 8, 2016, Peck attended a forensic interview with the victim at Western PA CARES for Kids.

During the forensic interview, the victim described Yakteen as “jolly” and “drunk.” She said that Yakteen took her into a bedroom and had sex with her. Once inside the bedroom, Yakteen allegedly told the victim that he would kill her if she didn’t have sex with him, the complaint states.

The victim then said that Yakteen had sex with her the next day and again threatened to kill her if she did not comply. She told the interviewer that Yakteen had sex with her approximately five times that week, according to the criminal complaint.

Andreas Interviewed

On December 13, 2016, Chief Peck spoke with Andreas at the Clarion County Jail where she was lodged on unrelated charges. Andreas told him that she met Yakteen at a church dinner in August of 2015. She said that approximately two weeks later he began providing her with food, money, and cigarettes. Yakteen and Andreas eventually formed a romantic relationship, according to the criminal complaint.

The criminal complaint states that Andreas admitted to observing Yakteen having sexual intercourse with the victim twice and said that the abuse occurred multiple times between November of 2015 and February of 2016. Andreas told Chief Peck that Yakteen admitted to having an obsession with young girls.

Andreas stated that the abuse ended in February of 2016 when she stopped allowing Yakteen to visit the residence, the complaint states.

Andreas told Peck that she “made a deal” with Yakteen in which he would pay her bills and provide money, cigarettes, and food in exchange for her silence about the abuse, the complaint continues.

Yakteen Interviewed

Around 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, December 14, 2016, Chief Peck located Yakteen on Main Street in Clarion. Yakteen agreed to go to the Clarion Borough Police Department to be interviewed about the sexual abuse, according to the complaint.

Yakteen confirmed that he met Andreas in August of 2015 and later began to form a romantic relationship with her, the complaint states.

Yakteen told Chief Peck that he provided Andreas with food and money and paid her bills, the complaint indicates.
Yakteen also told Chief Peck that when Andreas “gets out of the jail,” they are going to move in together and get married, the complaint continues.

Yakteen admitted to going into the bedroom with the child but denied sexually abusing her, according to the complaint.