Mother angered by plea deal for daughter’s rapist

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A mother who says her child was raped by a man who was staying at a drug and alcohol rehab center, says she isn’t happy with a plea deal that she says the suspect accepted.

Lynnette Kohlmeyer’s life is centered around getting justice for her little girl.

“She’s having nightmares about the incident,” Kohlmeyer said, explaining that the girl was admitted into a psychiatric hospital a week and a half ago.

The weight of what Kohlmeyer said happened to her daughter has become a burden. She said her daughter went missing back in April, then showed up at the police station and said she was raped by a man who was a resident of Heuer House Outreach and Café in Glassport.

Police later arrested and charged Shakil Hairston.

Kohlmeyer said she was informed that Hairston accepted a plea deal which reduced the 14 felony charges he is facing down to three. He could be facing 6 to 13 years in prison, and has to register for life with Megan Law, she said.

But she said she does not believe this is enough.

“I feel like he’s getting off easy, but there’s not much I can do about it,” she said.

She’s hoping the next court date that is set for later this month will bring her a step closer to justice, but she knows her daughter’s life will never be the same.

“We had to write our impact statements and once we wrote the impact statements hopefully that will give the judge the higher end,” she said.

There is still an active lawsuit against Heuer House. The owners say Hairston was a new resident and said he was vetted through the county before entering their facility. They also said they’ve made a number of security changes since the incident happened.

A gofundme page was created for anyone who would like to help the victim’s family pay for a portion of the medical bills.

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