Eric Dickerson said he changed during the 25 years he spent in state prison for rape.

But so did the world. And Dickerson said when he was paroled in July 2013 there was a lot of learning to do.

New driving rules, cell phones, even ordering food was a little different from what it was in the mid-1980s when he went to prison.

According to reports published at the time, Dickerson, now 52, within two hours on New Year’s Eve in 1986 accosted two separate women, pulled them into the same abandoned building and raped them at knife point. The combined punishment, issued by Delaware County Court, was up to 30 years in state prison.

When he got out of prison, Dickerson said he misunderstood the guidelines he would have to follow on parole as a sexual offender, and admittedly he broke the rules in the one year he was free.

According to court records, Dickerson failed to register his vehicle, two different jobs and two telephone numbers.

He pleaded guilty to failure to register under the state’s Megan’s Law, a felony, and begged Butler County Judge Timothy McCune to show him mercy.

McCune, saying his hands are tied by state law, sentenced Dickerson to the standard punishment for when a repeat felon commits this crime: another 4 to 8 years in prison.

“That’s a place I thought I would never be again,” said Dickerson, who told the judge during sentence court that he tried his best while in the community.

Witnesses who spoke on Dickerson’s behalf said they knew him to attend church and Sunday school and participate in services. He worked for the Grove City Alliance Church and a cleaning company in Crawford County. He got a driver’s license, a fiancee and a good attitude, they said.

Dickerson openly shared his love of the Lord and “often had a positive effect on others,” testified friend Charles Raisely.

Dickerson said he “was just trying to do the right thing” when he moved to Butler County so as not to be a reminder to his victims of what had happened in the past.

But he claims he found all the changes in the world overwhelming. And despite his intentions, he became depressed and often locked himself in a bathroom for up to four hours at a time.

“It was culture shock,” he said, adding that the reporting rules were among the things that he didn’t completely understand.

As a Tier 3 sexual offender, Dickerson for the rest of his life is required to register his address, employment, telephone numbers, vehicles and other information, in person, quarterly with the state police. He also must immediately notify police when he moves.

Police said when Dickerson last registered, he claimed he owned or operate no vehicles and had no job. But investigators later learned he was employed and was driving a 20-year-old Toyota Camry.

Dickerson’s defense attorney Stephen Misko said his client could face an additional three years in prison because the new conviction will likely be counted as a violation of his state parole on the original case.