New Sentence for Convicted Rapist Still Requires Zero Prison Time
by Bob Cull
When she was only 13 years old Courtney Andrews
was first molested by family friend, Austin Clem who was 18 at the
time. When she was 14 he raped her for the first time, he raped her
again while she was 14 and then again when she was 18.
In
September Andrews, now 20 years old, thought that the nightmare was
finally coming to an end, her rapist had been convicted on three counts
of rape, justice had been served, he would be going to prison for a very
long time -- or would he?
In
November when she and her family attended his sentencing they were
shocked when the judge fashioned his sentence in such a way as to
prevent him having to serve any prison time at all. He would have three
years of supervised probation and be required to register as a sex
offender and take part in a county run community corrections program for nonviolent criminals
which would allow him to live and work in the community never having to
serve a day unless he violated the terms of his probation.
The
sentence was immediately appealed and a higher court ruled that the
sentence was indeed too lenient and ordered that Clem be re-sentenced.
Last Monday, December 23, Judge Jimmy Woodroof sentenced Clem to five years of probation but still no prison time.
Andrews
and her family once more sat in the courtroom expecting justice and
again they left that room disappointed and wondering if there is any
such thing as justice in this country.
District Attorney Brian Jones who had sought prison time for Clem from the beginning immediately filed a motion to re-sentence, claiming that the sentence is still illegal.
Courtney Andrews,
the victim had spoken out about the light sentence in November after
the original sentence and she and her family are still speaking out with
this latest trivialization of the trauma which was inflicted on the
victim with this entirely inappropriate sentence.
Watch a report on Clem's second sentencing here:
h/t: Mother Jones
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