A man who admitted last year that he sexually assaulted and beat two underage family members will serve at least a decade and a half in prison.
David Pai, 51, formerly of Johnson, was sentenced last week to 20 years to life in prison. Pai pleaded guilty last September to two counts of sexual assault on someone under the age of 16 in his care, two counts of aggravated first-degree domestic assault and one count of domestic assault.
Lamoille County interim state’s attorney Aliena Gerhard said that, under Vermont sentencing guidelines, the minimum 20-year sentence would likely be reduced by five years if Pai abides by all his conditions. However, the maximum sentence is calculated out two centuries, until 2223, which is how long Pai will remain on probation even if he is released from prison.
“It means he’s going to be under the eyes of the Vermont judicial system and the Department of Corrections for the rest of his life. It also means he’s going to be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life,” Gerhard said.
According to court documents, Pai was arrested by Stowe police in March 2020 after investigators determined Pai had sexually abused two underaged members of his household in 2016 and 2017 when they lived in Stowe. Investigators say the abuse started before then, when the family lived in Iowa, with one victim saying Pai began inappropriately touching her when she was 9 years old, and he began sexually assaulting her when she was 11 or 12.
During a deposition last year, one of the alleged victims said Pai physically abused her and her siblings from an early age, pre-school in her case. The victims told investigators, in depositions under oath, that the sexual assaults were also regular, both in the children’s home in Iowa and when the family moved to Vermont — first in Stowe and then in Johnson.
“This is the worst case of abuse I’ve ever experienced in my career as a prosecutor,” Gerhard said.
At last week’s sentencing hearing, Gerhard said the victims and their mother moved her to nearly to tears with their “courage and grace,” noting one of the victims even thanked the public defender representing Pai for being kind to her.
Gerhard said she had asked for a minimum sentence of 52 years, knowing sentencing guidelines would knock that down to around 40. She said she would “be active” in any parole hearing to argue against Pai’s early release but said at least the family can breathe easy for at least a decade and a half.
“I think that, for the first time in their lives, they’ll be able to wake up knowing that they’re safe for 15 more years,” Gerhard said.
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