A former North Hills ice cream shop owner was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest plus 10 years' probation for sexually assaulting two young girls.
David Higginbotham appeared in court Monday for a new trial after his August 2014 conviction was thrown out.
As part of the sentence, Higginbotham has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and cannot have any contact with his victims.
Higginbotham, who formerly owned a Handel’s ice cream shop in McCandless, was initially sentenced to 20-40 years in prison for molesting two girls, 7 and 8.
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But the state Superior Court found a witness was improperly allowed to testify at his trial, leading to this retrial.
For years, Higginbotham said he was innocent in the case, but Monday, he suddenly pleaded guilty to assaulting the girls over a five-year period starting in 2008 at his home in Marshall Township.
Higginbotham's wife, adult children, friends and church members spoke of his generosity and commitment to family and his church community, while they asked the judge for leniency and to give Higginbotham credit for the two years of prison time and nine months house arrest he's already served.
The two victims, now 16 and 17, were angry and cried when they faced the judge to ask for the opposite. One of the victims said, "He is a nasty man, he did things to me, things I will never forget for the rest of my life. He had the power, but now it's my turn. I want you to put him back in jail."
Cox Media Group
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