ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A convicted rapist suspected in attacks in Florida, Pennsylvania and Connecticut was sentenced to life in prison for assaulting a woman in Ponte Vedra Beach and an attempted attack on another woman in Guana River State Park.
David Alan Shuey, a former sports marketer, made no apologies to the victims at his sentencing yesterday but had words with Circuit Judge J. Michael Traynor.
"I just want to get this straight," Shuey said. "You just maxed me out on everything?"
"Yes, sir, I did," the judge replied. "It is my opinion that you are a danger to this community and this state and to the people of this state."
Shuey, 32, of Hamden, Conn., was convicted Jan. 25 of attempted sexual battery with a firearm and attempted kidnapping, in an Aug. 3, 2003, attack on a woman at Guana River State Park. He received 30-year, consecutive sentences on those convictions, followed by a 15-year term for robbery with a firearm.
On May 20, a jury of four women and two men convicted Shuey of armed sexual battery and armed kidnapping in a Nov. 24, 2002, attack on a woman at Lakeview Village Apartments in Ponte Vedra Beach. For that attack, Traynor gave Shuey two life sentences without the possibility of parole. The life terms will be served after Shuey completes his sentence for the Guana River State Park attack.
Shuey displayed no emotion as one of his victims made statements in court.
She told the judge she treasured the beauty and isolation of the beach, "But now I have to be around people to be safe. I carry a gun. I rarely go to the beach now."
Victim's Advocate Carol Welborn read a statement from Shuey's second victim, who was in the courtroom but declined to speak.
"He threatened my life and violated my body," the woman wrote. "How do I recover from this type of trauma?"
Shuey still faces charges that he sexually assaulted women in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Police believe he attacked some women as he traveled the country on business.
Two Pennsylvania cases date to shortly after Shuey graduated from Penn State University. Centre County prosecutors said in each case the victim was a Penn State student who had taken out an advertisement in the college newspaper to sublet her apartment. In each case, one on May 1, 1997, and one on Nov. 23, 1997, the attacker feigned interest in the apartment, then raped the victim at gunpoint.
State Attorney Harry Shorstein of Jacksonville said his office will decide in the next few days whether to go ahead with prosecution there.
Mike and Ann Shuey, the defendant's parents, were in court for their son's sentencing.
Mike Shuey asked Traynor not to exceed a range of 20 to 25 years.
"He's always been a good person," Shuey said about his son. "We could not have more love or affection or faith in him before and after these allegations. We will always count him as one of our blessings."
First Published: June 1, 2005, 4:00 a.m.
