Man faces prison for inappropriate contact with boys
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The former owner of a Mercer County bowling alley pleaded no contest Tuesday to five counts of corruption of minors in connection with accusations that he had sexual contact with teenage boys during sleepovers at his business.
James Kopan, 47, will be sentenced April 27 in Mercer County Common Pleas Court and could face two decades in prison.
The district attorney's office said Mr. Kopan, former owner of the Tornado Alley lanes in Coolspring, had inappropriate sexual contact with boys at the bowling alley between 2008 and 2010.
His plea covered charges in three cases brought by state police.
In the first, he was accused of having three boys, ages 12 and 14, slide naked with him on a slip-and-slide made of tarps. In the second, Mr. Kopan was accused of fondling four boys, ranging in age from 7 to 12, while they slept. In the third case, Mr. Kopan was accused of exposing himself to five boys between the ages of 7 and 13, masturbating in front of them and encouraging them to masturbate.
In all three cases, police said, he showed the boys pornography.
Mr. Kopan had been charged with a combined 55 felony and 21 misdemeanor counts related to 12 victims in all, but the district attorney's office agreed to drop most of the charges in exchange for the plea.
First Published February 22, 2012 11:59 am
