The Orange County district attorney on Wednesday said he plans to appeal a judge’s "illegal" ruling that shaved 15 years off a minimum sentence for a man convicted of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl.
Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly sparked public outrage Friday when he reduced the sentence for Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto, 20, who was convicted in December of sodomizing a 3-year-old relative.
Rojano-Nieto faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years-to-life in prison, but the judge determined the punishment in this case was unconstitutional and reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said the judge’s decision to deviate from the mandatory minimum was “illegal” and will likely be reversed on appeal.
“We disagree with the judge, and I think we have a very strong case,” Rackauckas said.
Rojano-Nieto sexually assaulted the girl last year after she wandered into a Santa Ana garage where he was playing video games, prosecutors said. The assault came to light when the girl later complained of pain and her mother noticed that she was injured.
While the crime was “serious and despicable,” it does not compare to a situation where a pedophile preys on an innocent child, the judge wrote in his sentencing analysis. The judge said that the defendant “did not seek out or stalk” the victim.
“He was playing video games and she wandered into the garage. He inexplicably became sexually aroused but did not appear to consciously intend to harm (the victim) when he sexually assaulted her. As noted by defense, in an instant, he reacted to a sexual urge and stopped almost immediately,” Kelly wrote.
“There was no violence or callous disregard for (the victim’s) well-being,” he wrote.
The judge noted that Rojano-Nieto was raised in a dysfunctional family environment, had no previous criminal record and has shown “extreme remorse” for his actions.
In this case, he said, a sentence of 25 years to life would amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
The sentence has sparked public backlash and calls for the judge to step down.
Bryan Scott, 41, of Los Angeles County, said he was outraged after reading about the case and launched a Facebook page Monday called “Remove Judge M. Marc Kelly from the Bench.” The page has more than 5,000 “likes.”
“I’m a father and my kids are always in Orange County, and if something would happen to them, God forbid they would wind up in this judge’s courtroom,” Scott said. “The people have to set our own precedent. We have to stand up against judges going light on sexual predators.”
Scott said he plans to lead an official recall petition.
No comments:
Post a Comment