A former Jim Thorpe resident was sentenced to a long state prison term on Thursday afternoon after pleading guilty to a rape charge.

Judge Steven R. Serfass sentenced James Acevedo-Schneider, 26, to serve five to 10 years in a state correctional institution. Serfass said the sentence would run consecutive to a state prison term Acevedo-Schneider is currently serving which was imposed in Lackawanna County for a sexual assault offense.Jim Thorpe police charged that Acevedo-Schneider began sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl during the time frame of April 2000 through January 2006. He was between the ages of 10 and 15.The victim, a relative of the defendant, told investigators he sexually assaulted her from the time she was 5 until she was 11 in a home in the borough.Acevedo-Schneider is serving up to a 4-year state sentence for sexually assaulting a young boy while he lived in Lackawanna County. He has served almost 3 years of that sentence.Serfass accepted the recommendation of the adult probation office in imposing the state prison term. He said what Acevedo-Schneider did in the case of "hideous". He said what also disturbed the court was that Acevedo-Schneider initially showed no remorse for what he did.In a plea bargain with the district attorney's office, the commonwealth dropped a total of 143 counts of various sexual offenses including rape of a child, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault without consent, indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.Defense Attorney Gregory Lee Mousseau, chief public defender, said his client's action was the result of "learned behavior." He said his client came from a dysfunctional home. He also said Acevedo-Schneider began using drugs at the age of 9, going from marijuana to more serious substances, and he also abused alcohol.Mousseau said Acevedo-Schneider also has a history of mental health issues and is currently receiving counseling and treatment for that at the state prison at Waywart, Wayne County, where he is serving his Lackawanna County sentence. Defense attorney Matthew J. Mottola, of the public defender's office, said the defendant took responsibility for what he did from the start, negotiating a plea bargain at the preliminary hearing stage of the case.When asked by Serfass if he had anything to say, Acevedo-Schneider said his lawyers spoke for him.Prior to the start of the sentencing proceeding Serfass conducted a hearing on a report by the state sexual assessment board which determined that Acevedo-Schneider should be classified a sexual violent predator.After listening to the investigator for the state board that made the determination and studying all other information, Serfass ruled that Acevedo-Schneider meets the requirements of being designated a sexual violent predator which means he must register for life as a sexual violent predator.In addition to the jail term Serfass ordered Acevedo-Schneider supply a DNA sample, have no contact with the victim, have no unsupervised contact with minors, submit to a sexual offenders evaluation and pay court costs of about $1,000.