By Elizabeth Evans
The York Dispatch
YOE, Pa. — A former Yoe Fire Co. lieutenant who’d been an adviser to junior firefighters has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a girl.
Trevor George Howett, 30, of 2949 Sunset Drive in York Township, met the girl while speaking to students at the York County School of Technology, police said.
On July 23, he pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault, sexual abuse of a child, sexual assault and corruption of minors in two separate cases involving the same girl, according to court records.
As part of a plea agreement, charges including rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse will be dismissed at his Nov. 19 sentencing hearing, according to deputy prosecutor Heather Reiner.
The agreement calls for Howett to serve three to six years in state prison, she said.
“I think it’s an appropriate resolution for both cases,” Reiner said.
Howett must undergo a sexual-offender evaluation, also known as a Megan’s Law assessment, she said, to determine if he is a sexually violent predator.
Reiner said the victim — who was 16 at the time of the incidents — did not oppose the plea agreement.
Avoided trial: Defense attorney Suzanne Smith said that by pleading guilty to some of the charges, Howett was able to ensure he wouldn’t face the most serious ones at a trial.
“We pled to something that reduced his risks,” she said. "(Reiner) wanted a little more time, we wanted a little less, but in the end it was something everybody could live with.”
York Area Regional Police and Springettsbury Township Police each filed charges against Howett for incidents in Springettsbury and York townships.
According to charging documents, Howett met the girl sometime in 2004 while speaking with York County School of Technology students in the protective services program, who were learning about emergency-services careers.
School spokeswoman Jean Parks said officials there had
invited Harrisburg Area Community College instructors to speak about the college’s fire-science program.
Worked at HACC: According to a HACC spokeswoman, Howett was hired in January 2004 as a part-time secondary instructor for the college’s Public Safety Center, but stopped working at HACC the same year.
Howett gave the girl his phone number and e-mail address, and the two began corresponding, police said.
When school let out for the summer, Howett would occasionally pick up the girl and take her to his home, sneaking her in through the garage, according to police.
There, the two would have sexual relations, police said. He also took naked photographs of the girl, police said.
Girl called police: The sexual activity ended in May 2005, court documents state. The girl called police in August 2006, after Howett sent her an e-mail saying his wife had found the naked photos, police said.
Springettsbury police filed charges stating one sexual encounter took place in the parking lot of an Eastern Boulevard business.
Yoe Fire Chief Barry Myers has confirmed Howett was a volunteer lieutenant with the company and an adviser in the company’s junior firefighter program.
Howett’s membership in the fire company was not renewed for 2007, Myers said.
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