Com. v. Hummel, N.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 11, 2024
Docket2767 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Hummel, N. (Com. v. Hummel, N.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Hummel, N., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S17038-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : NICHOLAS LEE HUMMEL : : Appellant : No. 2767 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered August 14, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-09-CR-0004049-2022

BEFORE: BOWES, J., KING, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED JUNE 11, 2024

Appellant, Nicholas Lee Hummel, appeals from the aggregate judgment

of sentence of 18 to 40 years’ incarceration, imposed after he entered an open

guilty plea to various sexual offenses committed against his minor daughter.

On appeal, Appellant solely challenges the discretionary aspects of his

sentence. After careful review, we affirm.

The trial court summarized the facts and procedural history of

Appellant’s case, as follows:

This case rises from a uniquely disturbing pattern of sexual abuse committed by Appellant against his biological daughter…. Appellant’s abuse of [the victim] began when she was just nine years old while the two were living with [the victim’s] uncle in Richland Township, Bucks County. N.T.[ Plea,] 3/1/2023, [at] 17. [The victim] had come under Appellant’s care due to alleged physical and sexual abuse by her biological mother’s boyfriend. Id. at [] 20. During the five years Appellant and [the victim] lived with her uncle, they slept in the living room in beds separated only by a hanging sheet. Id. at [] 18. It was here that Appellant would J-S17038-24

abuse [the victim], either calling her over to his bed or going over to hers to engage in sexual activity. Id.

Appellant’s first instance of abuse occurred shortly after [the victim] turned nine. Id. at [] 17-18. During a thunderstorm, [the victim] became afraid and climbed into Appellant’s bed for reassurance. Id. at [] 18. Shortly thereafter, Appellant began fondling [the victim’s] genitals, inserting his fingers into her vagina, and masturbating himself in front of her. Id. at [] 17-18. This pattern of abuse was a regular occurrence until she turned twelve, when Appellant escalated his abuse to oral and vaginal rape. Id.

Appellant would often initiate his abusive episodes by texting [the victim] demands that she “take care of him” through sex. Id. at [] 19. Investigators recovered instances of these messages,1 including a message dated April 23, 2022, in which he texted [the victim] “[y]ou awake and want me to stuff that pussy tight till you cum while your [sic] tied to the bed unable to move while I explore every hole? Come here I’m horny!” Commonwealth’s Guilty Plea Ex. C-1, at [] 1. See[] also [N.T. Plea] at [] 19. In another message dated May 3, 2022, Appellant offered to “get [his] hands on something” for [the victim] if she would have sex with him. [N.T. Plea] at [] 19. Investigators discovered that this message referred to marijuana, as Appellant had gotten [the victim] high at a marijuana festival the previous weekend. Id. 1 Appellant later admitted to investigators that he had deleted certain messages between himself and [the victim] N.T. [Plea] … [at] 21.

On May 3, 2022, [the victim], now thirteen years old, reported her abuse to a school counselor and a school resource officer. Id. at [] 17. [The victim] had first recounted her story to some friends at school who promised to come forward if she did not. Id. [The victim] was then … [interviewed] by police to investigate her allegations. Id. at [] 19-20. Pursuant to their investigation, officers wanted to hear Appellant’s side of the story. To get him to the station for questioning, officers contacted Appellant and told him that they had picked [the victim] up as a runaway. Id.

Ultimately, officers confronted Appellant about [the victim’s] allegations. Id. at [] 20. He initially denied sexually abusing [the victim] but acknowledged she may have occasionally felt his “morning wood” given that he sleeps naked. Id. at [] 20-21. Appellant also admitted to getting high with [the victim] at the

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marijuana festival. Id. at [] 20. However, he [told] investigators that[,] after they got home, it was [the victim] who initiated sex by climbing on top of him and putting his penis inside of her. Id. Appellant admitted he did nothing to stop her and could neither explain how the condom got on his penis[,] nor rule out that he put it there. Id. As to the messages, Appellant alleged that he was high at the time and did not know what he was doing. Id. He also alleged that some of the messages to [the victim] were intended for an adult female acquaintance, but he inadvertently sent them to his daughter. Id.

Unbeknownst to Appellant at the time of his statement, investigators had conducted a “text takeover” of [the victim’s] phone by which they obtained access to [the victim’s] text messages. Id. at [] 21. At some point during this period, [the victim] received a text from Appellant apologizing to her for his abuse and for “treating her like a sex doll” all this time. Id. at 21-22. Thereafter, investigators seized and forensically analyzed Appellant’s laptop and phone, where they discovered numerous web searches for father-daughter incest pornography. Id. at [] 22.

On September 7, 2022, the Commonwealth filed an Information charging Appellant with one count each of Rape of a Child,2 Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (“IDSI”) with a Child,3 IDSI with a Person Under the Age of 16,4 Statutory Sexual Assault by a Person 11 Years Older than Complainant,5 Aggravated Indecent Assault of a Child,6 Aggravated Indecent Assault of [a] Complainant Under the Age of 16,7 Incest,8 Indecent Assault of a Person Under the Age of 13,9 Corruption of Minors When Defendant is 18 or Above,10 Indecent Assault of a Person Under the Age of 16.11 2 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3121(c). 3 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3123(b). 4 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3123(a)(7). 5 18 Pa.C.S. [§ ]3122.1(b). 6 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3125(b). 7 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3125(a)(8). 8 18 Pa.C.S. §[]4302(a). 9 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3126(a)(7). 10 18 Pa.C.S. §[]6301(a)(1)(ii). 11 18 Pa.C.S. §[]3126(a)(8).

-3- J-S17038-24

On May 1, 2023, Appellant entered an open plea of guilty to the above charges. This [c]ourt ordered an assessment of Appellant’s sexually violent [predator (“SVP”)] status by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board [(“SOAB”)] the same day. On August 14, 2023, this [c]ourt determined, upon consideration of the uncontested psychological report compiled by Dr. Veronique Valliere, that [Appellant is] a[n SVP]. He was then sentenced on Count 1[, Rape of a Child,] to a period of no less than eighteen (18) years’ to no more than forty (40) years’ incarceration and lifetime sex offender registration with the Pennsylvania State Police. No further punishment was ordered on the remaining counts.

On August 24, 2023, Appellant filed two post-sentence motions seeking withdrawal of his guilty plea and reconsideration of his sentence. A hearing on both motions was held on September 25, 2023. This [c]ourt ultimately denied both requests.

Trial Court Opinion (“TCO”), 1/29/24, at 1-4.

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, and he complied with the trial

court’s order to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors

complained of on appeal. The court filed its Rule 1925(a) opinion on January

29, 2024. Herein, Appellant states the following issue for our review: “Did the

trial court abuse its discretion in imposing a manifestly excessive sentence of

[18] to [40] years of incarceration in a state correctional institution where it

failed to consider Appellant’s rehabilitative needs and other mitigating

factors?” Appellant’s Brief at 4 (emphasis omitted).

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