Dr. Johnnie Barto heads into Cambria County Courthouse, in Ebensburg, Pa., on Monday, March 18, 2019, for his sentencing in the sexual assault of over two dozen children.
(Todd Berkey/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) – A former Pennsylvania pediatrician was sentenced Monday to at least 79 years in prison for sexually assaulting 31 children, most of them patients, as his now-adult victims blasted not only their abuser but the system that let him get away with it for so long.
Dr. Johnnie Barto of Johnstown was sentenced on dozens of criminal counts, including aggravated indecent assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors said he spent decades abusing children in the exam room at his pediatric practice in western Pennsylvania and at local hospitals, having opted to become a pediatrician so he’d have a ready supply of victims.
He typically abused prepubescent girls. One was an infant.
This undated file photo provided by Cambria County Prison shows Dr. Johnnie Barto. The former Pennsylvania pediatrician is scheduled for sentencing Monday, March 18, 2019, in the sexual assault of 31 children, most of them patients. (Cambria County Prison via AP, File)
“I grieve for the little girl I should have been, for the childhood I should’ve had. … I grieve for all the children you hurt,” Erika Brosig, who was sexually abused at age 13, said at Barto’s sentencing.
Brosig and 18 other people gave victim impact statements Monday, both in person and through a prosecutor, describing their pain and hurt.