MAYVILLE — A former Jamestown resident who pleaded guilty in December to charges of first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sex act for incidents that took place in July 2018 will spend the next 18 years in state prison.

Dennis L. Park, 35, was sentenced Monday morning in Chautauqua County Court before Judge David Foley. The Conewango Valley man will also receive 25 years of post-release supervision.

On Monday, Park asked for forgiveness from the victims and from the court.

“I understand what I did was heinous and wrong,” he said prior to being sentenced.

Foley told Park that he should have “probably got more” in terms of his sentence when considering the case and a prior conviction. However, Foley noted his commitment to the defense and prosecution to the agreed upon 18-year sentence.

“This is a very positive outcome for my office,” said Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson, noting the potential for Park to be held in civil confinement after 18 years in prison.

The guilty pleas were entered shortly before Park was set to go to trial for a second time in December 2019 after a mistrial was declared in August.

The sexual assault charges stem from two incidents in 2018. In both cases, two women said Park assaulted them while brandishing a knife.

One victim claimed the 35-year-old Park “rushed” her in a Jamestown laundromat on July 17, 2018, and forced her at knife-point to perform oral sex. Another woman alleged that Park forced her on July 11, 2018, to provide sexual acts behind a city factory near Chandler Street in exchange for safety.

Foley declared the mistrial in August after testimony, describing an oral swab that tested positive for human DNA, was given by a forensic analyst in front of the jury. Foley ruled that certain remarks made by the analyst referencing a rape kit from the July 17 incident that was compiled by a different official, a serologist, were hearsay.

Foley said he was “persuaded” to commit to the current sentence because the court “did not want to put the victims through another trial.”

The former Jamestown resident was convicted on a charge of first-degree rape of a 5-year-old girl in an incident that took place Sept. 26, 2002. Park was 17 years old at the time when police alleged he had sexual intercourse with the girl at a home on Second Street. He pleaded guilty in January 2003 to the rape charge and sentenced a month later to seven years in prison.

Park was required to register as a Level 3 sex offender following his conviction.

For the current sentence, orders of protection for both victims were ordered mandating Park have no contact with them. He was also ordered to pay a $1,425 surcharge and to surrender all firearms.

“My hope is that they make an effort to hold him even after his 18 years is completed,” Swanson said.