'Nothing is going to change the way you are': York man sentenced for rape of minor

Jack Panyard, York Daily Record
·2 min read
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A man has been sentenced to 7 to 15 years for the rape and prostitution of a 13-year-old girl and giving her cash, after pleading guilty to two charges and serving more than 400 days in the York County Prison.

Takanii Beatty, 47, of York, pleaded guilty in March to two counts, statutory sexual assault and promoting prostitution, after an incident in December of 2019 when he and co-defendant Lenee Rivera, 27, of York, reportedly bought hard liquor and brought a young girl back to an apartment in West Manchester Township.

"Every day I’m embarrassed by this. I made a bad choice, a bad mistake, and I’m willing to take responsibility for this," Beatty said at this week's sentencing. "I’m ready to get on with my life and move forward."

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Beatty's attorney, Lee Cohen, asked for the minimum sentence of four years or less, making the case that Rivera was the one who brought the minor to him and insisted she was 18 years old. Beatty reportedly brought the case to the police after the incident, but Common Pleas Judge Harry M. Ness was not swayed.

Elen O'Donnel, an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case, said the fact Beatty has children makes the crime inexcusable, and if there was any question of her age he should have erred on the side of caution.

"I think a grown man with children can tell the difference between a 13-year-old and an 18-year-old," O'Donnel told Ness during the sentencing.

Ness gave the sentence, citing that Beatty's prior convictions of assault, possession with intent to deliver and gun charges among others indicate that he is not inclined to change.

"Nothing is going to change the way you are," Ness said.

Rivera pleaded guilty to trafficking of a minor, corruption of a minor, felonies, and indecent assault of a minor, a misdemeanor. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5.

Jack Panyard is a reporter at the York Daily Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at jpanyard@ydr.com, 717-850-5935 or on Twitter @JackPanyard.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Takanii Beatty gets prison time for York rape prostitution case