offers. a prosecutor has the ability to use diversion programs beings even on these types of charges. but generally that happens before trial. this defendant had a constitutional right to go to trial, and i think he went to trial because of the aggravated sexual assault counts. and i don t know what the plea offers were extended to him, but he had to make a decision. it would be 30 seconds, tom, that we have had a lot of talk about sexual assaults on campuses. absolutely. this is a tragedy. you hear about rape epidemic. sexual assaults and rapes happen. they should be prosecuted vigorously. there is also an epidemic of people making false allegations of rape. there is pressure on the prosecutors to bring this case. given the inconsistencies in the victim s story i don t think this case should have went to trial. i don t think he should have been charged. it should have been dealt with in some other way.
the judge aside the verdict on this count. the defense will try to formulate some sort of argument. it s a high burden. it probably won t happen. you ll have appeals maybe testing the constitutionality of the statute. it s a tough case. the fact that the jury determined this was consensual yet this defendant walks away with this agree of punishment. a registered sex offender. it s lights over right now. i didn t want to go to that extreme. here you have a kid who has potentially never committed another crime, going to one of the top prep schools in the nation. accepted into harvard s divinity program no less. now according to the jury he is not guilty of rape but may in fact go to prison and, as you just said, tom, have his life ruined. registration will not actually kick in here, in this particular actually, he benefits a bit for the statute. the statutory rape laws
hey, do you want to hook up tonight? that s the toughest part about it. the felony charge is serious business. he s going to be looking at in all likelihood a state prison sentence as a result of that. this is a law incontinutended fr guys, basically pedophiles operating out of their basement. it wasn t for kids going to the same prep school. this is a tough pill for him to swallow. when the jury is trying to hash all this out. they obviously unanimously agree that they couldn t go to the consent part, right? correct. do they have an understanding that that computer services no. do they have an understanding that s a class b felony? no. because a jury is not supposed to consider punishment. they re supposed to reach their verdict on the facts. the judge would have told them several times before deliberating that s not within the purview of the jury. they may have no idea what they did in this case. wow. three and a half to seven years
those. there is not. it s a strict liability offense. she could have been ready, willing and able and the jury probably found that she was. she could have been the one that prompted the encounter. but because of the age disparity between them it s a per se kr criminal. this all comes down to the age. with respect to the misdemeanor offenses. the computer that is a crime that prohibits the use of computers to lure a minor into a sexual encounter, which was done here but it doesn t mean it was done without her consent. she can t consent to it because the law says she can t because she was under 16. so when a prosecutor gets a case like this, you are compelled to press charges? well, this is a dilemma for prosecutors because these are very difficult cases to handle. there is a large amount of discretion that prosecutors have to bring charges and how to resolve them by way of plea
okay. obviously the complainant in this case was 15. the defendant was 18. a lot of people look at that and say, look, two people in the same prep school, both in high school. this is not what this law was intended to prevent but a plain reading of the statute makes the conduct illegal. that s why his lawyers are you surprised by this? the prosecutor had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and that was tough. what s clear is this jury found that there was penetration. in fact, on the three sexual assault misdemeanor charges that he has been convicted of, it required the state to prove penetration penis penetration, number one. digital penetration with a finger number two, and oral sex. so those are the facts that were required for those for this