[Vision2020] Stegner Light on Sex Offender AGAIN

Wed Apr 27 00:36:20 PDT 2016

Visionaries:

I'd like to know when Idaho in general and Latah County specifically decided
that we wanted to be a sex offender friendly place where an astonishing
number of those who irreparably harm our children don't go to prison?

A friend sent me the article below, which was in yesterday's Daily News, and
words do not adequately convey my absolute fury that Judge Stegner has --
once again -- sentenced a sex offender to a light sentence.  In this case, a
31-year-old man who raped a 12-year-old little girl will spend no real time
in prison assuming he's able to successfully game the Rider program, which
doesn't seem to be much of a challenge.

If someone like this doesn't deserve real prison time, then we need to
reassess what the heck is going on, IMO.  It looks like in January 2016,
those convicted of sex crimes filled about 25% of our prison beds (vs 20%
convicted of property crimes, 17% for drug offenses, and 4% for alcohol
crimes).

I'm also confused about exactly what "about six month" program
Hernandez-Nunez will be participating in because the last I knew, Idaho had
only two Rider programs:  the 90-day CAPP (Correction Alternative Placement
Program) and the 120-day Traditional Rider Program.  For those not aware,
Idaho used to have a third Rider Program:  a 280-day TC (Therapeutic
Community) Rider Program, but we got rid of it last September, IIRC, because
- what a shock - it didn't work and was negatively impacting the state's
recidivism rates.

I am also shocked and disturbed to see that Judge Stegner seems to subscribe
to "Greyhound" justice (telling the convict he can't live in Latah County
while on probation) without regard to the constitutionality while just a few
months ago he went out of his way to make parental consent last for the rest
of their lives for Steven Sitler's victims who are no longer minors.  And,
let's not forget that also not too long ago, he also ended another sex
offender's (Andrew Appleton) probation early and gave permission for
Appleton to not only relocate to another country, but -- against the
survivor's express wishes -- to the precise area where Appleton's survivor
fled  :(  One can't help but wonder about the motives of such seemingly
incongruent positions by Judge Stegner.

Throughout my years of observing the criminal justice system in Latah
County, a very concerning theme I've seen is that in crimes against persons
- women, children, the elderly especially - sentencing is too often
unacceptably light.  In the sentencing balancing act, the notion of
rehabilitation is important, but so, too, are things like reparation,
safety, deterrence, proportionality, and even punishment; Judge Stegner
seems to have forgotten all about the later while focusing only on the
former (rehabilitation).

Whether he realizes it or not - or wants to accept the reality or not -
Judge Stegner's notoriously light sentencing in crimes against people acts
as a deterrent to victims' reporting crimes and survivors' willingness to
cooperate with the justice system.  And I, for one, don't blame survivors
for opting out given the ridiculously light sentences offenders in Latah
County are likely to receive, which revictimizes the survivors and their
loved ones.  Survivors and those who care about them speak out on the
Internet and on social media, and  Judge Stegner's reputation isn't good in
that Latah County population  :(

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Moscow man sentenced for rape of minor 

Victim, family share struggles, shame they have since faced

Posted: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 12:00 am

By Samantha Malott, Daily News staff writer

Adrian Hernandez-Nunez was sentenced to a period of retained jurisdiction
Monday morning in Latah County 2nd District Court after pleading guilty to
raping a then-12-year-old girl in November 2014.

The 33-year-old Moscow man was sentenced to a minimum of five years and
maximum of 10 years in prison, with retained jurisdiction, by Judge John
Stegner. He must also register as a sex offender. Hernandez-Nunez will
complete an approximate six-month-long treatment program with the Idaho
Department of Corrections. Upon completion he will either be ordered to
complete the full prison term or be released on to probation, depending on
his performance in the program.

He was also fined $5,000, which will be paid to the victim, $1,500 in
restitution to the Idaho State Police, $245 in court costs and additional
restitution to be determined at a later date. A 10-year-long no contact
order was also issued to include the victim, her father and grandparents.

Hernandez-Nunez pleaded guilty under a plea agreement in March. Stegner said
an additional requirement in the agreement, that Hernandez-Nunez cannot live
in Latah County while on probation, will have to be further researched as to
its constitutionality. Hernandez-Nunez's co-defense attorney, James Johnson,
said Hernandez-Nunez entered into the agreement in "good faith" and will
follow through on moving out of the county while on probation, regardless if
it is ordered or not.

The now 14-year-old victim said during a preliminary hearing in December
that she engaged in sexual intercourse with the then 31-year-old man inside
his former home. The girl was reported as a runaway and was picked up later
that night by police at his house.

In a statement read in court Monday on her behalf, the victim wrote she has
been damaged in many ways during her life through sexual abuse, and what
made the incident different with Hernandez-Nunez was that "it was my final
breaking point."

"Everyday I look at myself, I feel ruined," she wrote.

The victim's father said during the hearing that his daughter spent five
months in the hospital following the incident.

"He has changed my daughter's life forever. ... She feels dirty and taken
advantage of," he said. "(Hernandez-Nunez) is a father himself. What will
his daughter think of him when she gets older?"

__________

Samantha Malott can be reached at (208) 883-4639, or by email to
smalott at dnews.com.

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