Judge imposes new terms in Texas rape case
DALLAS (AP) — A 20-year-old man who was convicted of raping of a teenage schoolmate but sentenced to five years' probation must also undergo the standard probationary conditions, including evaluation for sex offender treatment, a Dallas district court judge ruled Thursday.
Sir Young had pleaded guilty in the 2011 rape of a 14-year-old girl when he was 18 at a Dallas high school.
State District Judge Jeanine Howard, who sentenced Young last month, did not impose the standard probationary conditions. After sentencing him to five years of probation, she recused herself. She explained her reasoning on the light sentence to The Dallas Morning News.
"She wasn't the victim she claimed to be," she told the newspaper last week. "He is not your typical sex offender."
As part of his probation, she ordered Young to spend 45 days in jail.
On Thursday, state District Judge Carter Thompson imposed all of the standard terms of probation, including stipulations that Young may not have any contact with children, must be evaluated for sex offender treatment and must stay away from pornography.
Thompson told Young he must adhere to the probation measures. "Your previous court gave you a second chance, don't expect a third chance from this court," he said.
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said after the ruling that Thompson made "in our estimation the right ruling, he did the right thing." Watkins' office had asked Thompson to tighten the probation conditions.
"In this unfortunate situation, this judge decided not to give this 14-year-old girl justice and fortunately we got another judge who did that," Watkins said.
In explaining her reasoning, Howard had said the girl asked Young to spend time with her and had agreed to have sex with him, just not at school. Howard also pointed to medical records that she said show the girl had three sexual partners and gave birth to a baby. The girl's mother denied her daughter had had a baby.
The girl testified she said "no" and "stop" several times during the rape.
Young's attorney, Scottie Allen, said he and his client were disappointed by Thursday's ruling. "It's going to create an undue burden on him," Allen said.
Victim's mother, who says she plans to file a complaint against Howard with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, said her daughter felt like Howard was "attacking her." She said though that they felt supported by the public outcry and she felt like justice was done Thursday.
Young does have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
