Inmate Serving Sentence for Sexual Assault Found Dead at SCI-Benner

An inmate at the State Correctional Institute at Benner Township was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in his cell on Sunday, Superintendent Robert Marsh reported.

Prison staff found 54-year-old Conrad Carpenter, of Williamsport, at 3:03 p.m. and provided CPR until medical personnel arrived, according to a news release from the state Department of Corrections.

Carpenter was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m. Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers’ office will determine a cause of death.

Carpenter was serving a sentence of four-to-eight years for a sexual assault conviction in Lycoming County. He had been at SCI-Benner since Sept. 6, 2018.

According to PennLive, Carpenter was arrested in 2016 on five charges related to sexual abuse of a 4-year-old girl. In 2018, Lycoming County prosecutors reached a plea agreement on one count of sexual assault, saying they wanted to protect the victim from having to go through a trial.

He had six previous convictions, including one for corruption of minors. He was acquitted of charges including rape and endangering the welfare of children in a 1994 case. Indications of child sexual abuse in 1993, 2002 and 2007 caused Lycoming County Children and Youth Services to put his name on the state’s child abuse registry, according to PennLive.