FARMINGTON – A Freeman Township man was sentenced to serve nine months of a three-year sentence to be followed by three years of probation after admitting he sexually abused a 15-year-old acquaintance last spring.
Justin Robinson, 22, pleaded guilty to felony Class C unlawful sexual contact as an Alford Plea in Franklin County Superior Court on Friday. In an Alford Plea a defendant who maintains innocence or disagrees with the state’s version of the case agrees to plead guilty to minimize the risk of a trial and a longer prison sentence. As part of the negotiated plea agreement, a misdemeanor charge of unlawful sexual touching was dismissed.
After attending an Easter sunrise service on March 27, Robinson received permission from the victim’s parents to take her home. Instead, he took her to his grandparents house. She fell asleep and woke to find Robinson on top of her, sexually abusing her, said Assistant District Attorney Claire Andrews in court.
Afterwards, “he told her he would only take her home if she didn’t tell anyone,” Andrews said. Once home, the victim was taken to the hospital and police were called. The victim told Detective Kenneth Charles of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office what had occurred.
Charles interviewed Robinson who admitted he had sexually molested the girl. Andrews noted that Robinson had also been involved in a prior unlawful sexual contact incident that occurred on a school bus.
“He did admit to that as well,” she said. “This is not an isolated incident.” Of this case, Andrews said Robinson was a trusted family friend and that the incident “will affect the 15-year-old for the rest of her life.”
The victim’s mother spoke for her daughter and confirmed “this has affected her greatly.” She has nightmares and is attending counseling.
“She’s had a hard time understanding why Justin did this; he was her friend. She does forgive him because she’s an awesome person.”
“He is accepting responsibility,” Robinson’s attorney George Hess said, and he wanted to spare the victim the trauma of going to trial. He said his client has undergone a mental health evaluation and was found to suffer from anxiety, is cognitively below average in intelligence and has few coping skills. He was a special education student until he entered high school where he was mainstreamed.
Robinson told Justice William Stokes he worried about who will take care of his two dogs when he’s in jail.
“I spent hours with them. They sit on my lap. They helped me get through it,” Robinson said and he added, “losing the dogs would really devastate me.”
Although Hess argued for less than nine months to serve, Stokes agreed with the state’s position that Robinson should serve nine months.
“The crime here is a violation of a person,” Stokes said. “I consider that to be a high level of seriousness.” Both sides agreed that Robinson would serve his sentence at the county jail. Hess asked for a stay until Jan. 5 so that his client could find someone to take care of his dogs.
Conditions of his three-year probation include attending sex offender counseling, to have no contact with children under the age of 16 and to have no contact with the victim or her mother. He will also have to register as a sex offender for 25 years.
“I respect that you can forgive him. That says a lot about who you are,” Stokes said to the victim, who was surrounded with family members and friends. “Don’t let this define you, it’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. I really admire your ability, your willingness to forgive.”
Sounds like another slap on the wrist; something has to be change in our justice system.
I agree with James. Something DOES need to be changed in our system! As someone who has gone through this as a victim, seeing people getting away with this shows how little people know how much it truly affects the victim! It’s something that you have to live with your whole life. It’s something that affects relationships, trust, intimacy of any sort. Some girls like me suffer with anxiety problems because of it. For me, it’s been over 13 years since it happened, but it still affects me every single day. Something needs to be changed so victims can feel like the person who did this to them has at least somewhat paid for their actions! If he’s done it before, and has done it again, chances are nothing will change. You can pray that he changes…but he has to want to change for him to actually change.
I wonder HOW cognitively impaired this young man is. I am all for compassion, and I’m pleased that he is remorseful, but what about this young woman who will be affected for the rest of her life? What about his potential to re-offend? If he lacks the cognitive ability and coping skills to be held fully accountable, doesn’t it stand to reason that he is a danger to other young women? I think that the Franklin County justice system did its best with this case, but light sentences are the norm in our society. In some places, he may have walked completely. We, as a society, just don’t recognize how terrible sexual assault is.
Cognitively impaired or receiving special education services in no way means that they are not competent. This young man knows right from wrong.
Sick, sad world.
These crimes will continue to happen until the state starts issuing stronger sentences.
Wow…9 months for what amounts to rape..I agree with Jeremy. Sad, sick, LOST world!