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<P>Reading the fine print, a minimum of 93 months? So he could be out in 8 years for good behavior, not really a tough sentence afterall.<BR><BR></P>
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From: <I>"Shelly" <CJs@Turbonet.com></I><BR>To: <I><vision2020@moscow.com></I><BR>Subject: <I>[Vision2020] Now here is a judge that knows what he is doing</I><BR>Date: <I>Wed, 19 Jul 2006 10:39:52 -0700 (Pacific Standard Time)</I><BR><BR>
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<H1>Judge gives child rapist life sentence</H1><BR>
<ADDRESS>By KERRI SANDAINE<BR>of the Tribune </ADDRESS>
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<P>ASOTIN -- Asotin County Superior Court Judge William D. Acey said he rarely goes against a joint sentencing recommendation from the state and defense, but a denial was warranted in a child rape case he heard Tuesday.
<P>"I cannot, in my heart, trust you," Acey told the defendant, Brandon J. Russell, 19, of Clarkston, before sentencing him to life in prison with a minimum of 93 months behind bars.
<P>Russell had earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child, a class A felony.
<P>Acey said he wants to make sure the community is not at risk, and Russell gets treatment in prison.
<P>Prior to sentencing, Russell broke down in tears and apologized for sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl.
<P>The state had recommended Russell be sentenced to life with a minimum of 93 months, under a special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, known as SOSA. Under the agreement, Russell would have received a suspended sentence requiring monitoring and outpatient treatment, and he would have been released Tuesday.
<P>Acey said he was concerned about releasing the defendant because he had no job, never finished high school and had a history of drug use. The probability of Russell successfully completing an outpatient program for sex offenders was slim, the judge said.
<P>"I have to watch out for the community," Acey said. "You will get treatment on the inside."
<P>Prosecutor Benjamin Nichols said the family of the victim and the family of the defendant had agreed to the sentence he recommended.
<P>"I recommended SOSA because I believed it would be in the best interest of everyone involved," Nichols said.
<P>Russell's attorney, Jane E. Richards, said she was shocked by the decision.
<P>"I was dismayed that the judge didn't go with the SOSA," she said. "My client was a candidate for it, up and down. I didn't agree with the judge's findings as far as him not working. He's been in jail for eight months and hasn't had the opportunity to obtain employment. At 19, I think he is at an age to be rehabilitated, and the experts agreed." </P></TD></TR>
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