Utopia Talk / Politics / Rape: "Incarceration isn't appropriate"

murder Member	Wed Nov 17 13:29:49 Lewiston man who previously pleaded guilty to raping 4 teenage girls receives no jail time, sentenced to eight years probation ... “I agonized — I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case. because there was great pain. There was great harm — There were multiple crimes committed in the case,” Judge Murphy explained. "It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation." http://www...enced-to-eight-years-probation
murder Member	Wed Nov 17 13:31:46 That's in the State of New York. If that judge doesn't burn alive, every man in those girls lives should have their balls cut off, because they have no use for them.
Habebe Member	Wed Nov 17 13:43:36 NY is nuts.I think it was last year the guy got 9-life for stabbing some girl to death. So he can be out in 9 years.
murder Member	Wed Nov 17 13:44:44 Well yeah, but he only killed a female so ...
Habebe Member	Wed Nov 17 13:45:46 Im all for leniency in the court room, and following procedures etc. But certain crimes like rape and murder sort of require the person be kept from society for the rest of their life. Or until they are old enough that they are no threat.
Seb Member	Wed Nov 17 15:57:23 He's 20 now but when he pleaded guilty he would have been 17. What exactly are the particulars here? He pleaded guilty to second and third degree rape - so I'm guessing someone around his age and incapable of consenting because incapacitated. Otherwise would be 1st degree rape. I'm not convinced that e.g. two drunk kids having sex and one not having consented because they are drunk - though sexual abuse - is best served by a long custodial prison sentence. If, on the other hand, this is more a case of someone raping someone who was unconscious, that is a different matter. I'm actually looking at this and trying to work out exactly why he should be sentenced as an adult rather than the juvenile he was when he pleaded guilty. Something about right to expeditious justice.
kargen Member	Wed Nov 17 16:05:13 The fucked up thing is originally he was convicted as a minor and given probation then. He broke the rules of that probation and that is why he went back to court where he would be sentenced as an adult. So having broke the terms of probation once he is again given probation. Reading other articles is looks like his mom and step dad were helping lure girls to the house and they face over thirty charges themselves. Also looks like they might have a bit of wealth behind them.
Seb Member	Wed Nov 17 16:40:27 Ah, that changes things quite a bit. So many local US news websites block EU based visitors due to gdpr so I couldn't actually find much specific. God knows what exactly they are doing that gdpr would be a problem for browsing them - something pretty invasive I'd have to guess.
Seb Member	Wed Nov 17 16:41:34 It sounds like the terms of probation were to abstain from pornography...
kargen Member	Wed Nov 17 18:22:56 yeah it was no internet access without permission from his parole officer but basically no porn. I know 17 year olds are seldom reasonable and especially it seems this one but if he had just used his imagination for two years he would have no record and been able to go on being a piece of shit. He is going to break parole again. All they have done is reinforce that the rules do not apply to him.
obaminated Member	Wed Nov 17 20:32:22 Well, it isn't reasonable to expect a 17 year old to be capable of avoiding porn. Plus. He would be clearing his pipes regularly and thus have less rapey urges.
earthpig GTFO HOer	Wed Nov 17 23:29:23 Sentencing someone to "no internet" is borderline crazy.
kargen Member	Wed Nov 17 23:40:10 A seventeen year old doesn't need porn. Drawing his own stick figures would be enough. One extra tug shaking it dry would get him started. It wasn't no internet. It was no internet without permission. Meaning he had filters. Certain sites were off limits. Eventually he will end up in prison and he will be the unwilling girl friend so justice will prevail in the end.
patom Member	Thu Nov 18 04:31:28 Maybe the judge in this trial should be collaborating with the Judge in the Rittenhouse trial.
Seb Member	Thu Nov 18 05:57:13 Kargen: I'm feeling less lenient towards the guy by the second. I can only find a few sites and they give very general details. The fact the parents are involve make me think it's not so much "had sex while drunk with another minor who was too smashed to reasonably give consent" so much as "get girls so smashed they cannot reasonably consent in order to then be able to have sex". The parents involvement is complicated - for a minor that might be a mitigating factor suggesting leniency in so far as that helps rehabilitation. Given what you are saying about probation terms, circumventing controls seems a very stupid idea. On balance given I don't know the specifics of what actually he is supposed to have done - I'm minded to trust the judge. But yeah, I suspect the idjit will break the law again and find himself in jail. But jail sentence really shouldn't be the measure of whether justice has been served - particularly for juvenile crimes. That is a really good way to set people on a criminal path for life. And on the issue of rape and sexual assault for juveniles - I'd much rather we take the expansive view on what constitutes some degree of criminal behaviour - but exercised discretion on how that is punished. That is a much better way forward that offers protection for child victims by ending impunity, prevents kids getting accustomed to what will be criminality when they turn 18, and doesn't result in the situation where we end up throwing poor or foreign looking kids in jail, while rich white kids may then not even get charged properly because "oh no, it will ruin their lives".
Seb Member	Thu Nov 18 06:01:10 No porn seems a strange probabtion condition to me though. Feels a bit like it is mixing up Christian morality into things - though again that might be a condition recommended by a child psychologist (e.g. the claimed motivation and mitigation for these parties are "we are all sex addicts" or something).
murder Member	Thu Nov 18 08:30:32 Lewiston man who previously pleaded guilty to rape receives no jail time, sentenced to eight years probation LEWISTON, N.Y. (WKBW) — A former Lewiston man who pleaded guilty to rape and sex abuse in 2019 has been sentenced to eight years probation. 7 Eyewitness News was in the courtroom Tuesday when 20-year-old Christopher Belter received his sentence. Niagara County Judge Matthew Murphy sentenced Belter to eight years of probation and he must also register as a sex offender. He will face no jail time. According to 7 Eyewitness News senior reporter Eileen Buckley, a victim in the courtroom was clearly upset by the judge's decision. “Through treatment and reflection, I’ve come to feel deep shame and regret for my actions none of you deserved to be in this situation,” stated Belter. “I hope each of you could close that wound i gashed.” Belter addressed the court before his sentencing for the rape and sexual assault of four teenage girls. “I know though, that a scare will remain that will serve as a reminder of the evil of that night,” Belter reading from his notes. Some of his victims were in the courtroom for his sentencing, learning he won't serve any time behind bars. Judge Murphy decided prison time would be "inappropriate". “I agonized — I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case. because there was great pain. There was great harm — There were multiple crimes committed in the case,” Judge Murphy explained. "It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation." The judge issued a lengthy list of probation rules for Belter, who now lives in the City of Lockport. He also had a stern warning about following the rules. "It's going to be like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years," Judge Murphy remarked. Belter must also registered as a sex offender. He returns to court December 2 for a Sex Offender Registration Act hearing where it will be decided whether is is a level one, two or three sex offender. In 2018, when Belter was 17, he was charged with first degree rape, third degree rape and sexual abuse involving multiple 15- and 16-year-old girls at his Lewiston home. In 2019, Belter pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree sex abuse, third degree attempted abuse and third degree rape. He received a sentence of two years interim probation. If he successfully completed probation he would be granted Youthful Offender status. His probation involved the following restrictions: Remain in Niagara County Have employment or be a full-time student Live with parents Order of protection by victims No contact with anyone under 18 No internet unless given permission by probation No overnight trips No visiting locations where minors are present unless probation agrees Random polygraph and drug tests "I am deeply, deeply disappointed. I expected a different outcome today,” declared Steve Cohen, attorney. "Justice was not done today." Cohen represents one of the victims and is outraged with the sentence. Cohen says there were "zero consequences" for violating his previous probation. “He is privileged. He comes from money. He is white. He was sentenced as an adult, appropriately — for an adult to get away with these crimes is unjust,” Cohen remarked. Cohen noted how difficult it was for his client to hear Belter will not go to jail. “I believe she’s in the bathroom throwing up, right now, excuse me," described Cohen before leaving the courthouse. Before the sentencing, Belter's attorney, Barry Covert spoke about his client saying he was a remorseful young man "He is tremendously remorseful for what he has done," Covert stated. During the sentencing, the prosecutor Peter Wydysh told the court calling the home where the attacks occurred a “party house” was a disservice to all the victims. “It was not a party house case judge; it was a house of sexual assault — that is what happened there — that is not something we should look past,” Wydsh stated. In October, nearly two months from the start of sentencing, Judge Murphy ruled that Belter would be sentenced as an adult and denied Youthful Offender status. Judge Murphy said of Belter "we now know from his documented failure to to follow the rules imposed by the Court about abstinence from pornography that this defendant does not hesitate to ignore the rules when they compete with his own carnal appetites." In his October decision the judge continued on to say "the defendant has made progress and perhaps if the defendant is continued on probation and sex offender counseling for another eight years, the risk to reoffend will be eliminated. But, in the meantime, the Defendant still posts an 'above average risk' to reoffend even after two years of counseling."
murder Member	Thu Nov 18 08:42:32 No jail time in Lewiston sexual abuse and rape case COURTS: Rape and sexual abuse charges had stemmed from assaults that took place at "Lewiston Party House." BY RICK PFEIFFER rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com Nov 16, 2021 LOCKPORT — Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said Tuesday that he "agonized," and then prayed for guidance on how to sentence Christopher Belter. Facing the potential for 8 years in prison for his guilty plea in June 2019 to felony charges of third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse and two misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse for encounters with four teenaged girls that occurred during the parties at his then Lewiston home, Murphy sentenced Belter to 8 years of probation. Murphy said that he had concluded that prison time "would be inappropriate" for Belter. Belter had originally been placed on two years of interim probation during a sentencing hearing in August 2019. He was accused of committing the crimes when he was 16 and was first charged in the case when he was 17, and had been eligible to be sentenced as a youthful offender. But Murphy decided not to grant him so-called "YO status" because Belter admitted that, while he was on interim probation, he had installed software on his computer to bypass a content blocker that kept him from viewing pornography. His attorney said Belter has since been placed on medication to better control his behaviors. Murphy warned Belter that his 8 years of probation will be like "a sword dangling over your head." Because he was sentenced as an adult, Belter will also be required to register as a sexual offender. Belter's case is also tied to the delayed trial of his mother, step-father and an adult neighbor charged with providing booze and pot to at least three teenage girls, who then claimed they were sexually assaulted in a Mountainview Drive home in Lewiston. The mother, Tricia Vacanti, 47, and step-father, Gary Sullo, 53, were charged in January 2020 with a combined 30 new criminal counts in connection with what prosecutors and State Police investigators have described as alcohol and drug-fueled teen parties alleged to have taken place at their home in 2017 and 2018. Vacanti and Sullo had already facing 19 combined counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child in the case. The new charges included 22 counts of endangering and unlawful dealing against Vacanti and another eight counts of the same allegations against Sullo. A neighbor, Jessica Long, 39, also faces single counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. http://www...25-5e6d-81fa-32becfad4146.html
murder Member	Thu Nov 18 08:44:16 Here's a nice picture of the "party house". http://blo...11a528/5d863655e9dc5.image.jpg
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