Sexual assault is a crime of violence no matter how it is perpetrated, whether it that assault involves rape, physical force, or coercion. When the more physically violent rape cases are found in the news, there’s an expectation that those attacks will be sentenced more harshly. It’s a foolish expectation, even after the #MeToo movement.
Alaska’s Superior Court Judge Michael Corey is up for reelection in November, but his chances seem unlikely after he levied a sentence that included no additional jail time for Justin Schneider, the convicted sexual abuser who offered a Native American woman a ride, choked her until she passed out, and then masturbated on her face while she was unconscious.
Police say Justin Schneider will serve no jail time and will not be required to register as a sex offender, after he plead guilty to kidnapping a woman, beat her unconscious and proceeded to sexually assault her. The DA said this was his "one pass." https://t.co/D8Su8KDJca
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) September 23, 2018
Schneider’s punishment included a two-year prison sentence with one year suspended. Since he had awaited trial on home incarceration for one year before his trial, the one year remaining was judged as time served. Schneider left the courtroom a free man. He served absolutely no jail time.
A man in Anchorage, Alaska, pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman who said he strangled her unconscious and sexually assaulted her.
The man then walked out of court with no prison sentence. https://t.co/YQeO2x6E9b pic.twitter.com/NUWXyTJxGq
— CNN (@CNN) September 21, 2018
Judge Corey tried to explain his decision by saying that prosecutors were forced to recommend it by law, because what Schneider did to his victim is not considered a sexual assault under Alaska law. Schneider’s plea deal required him to plead guilty to only one charge, the most serious one, of felony assault, in exchange for probation, sex offender therapy, and not a single day in a jail cell. He will not be required to register as a sex offender.
Justin Schneider strangled a Native woman & masturbated on her. She lived. Punishment? No jail. Remorse? None. His characterization by court? “Gentleman.” Native women go missing/murdered so often it has spurred a movement. Case in point. #NoJustice #MMIW https://t.co/VzucXQJQy6
— tara houska (@zhaabowekwe) September 20, 2018
According to the Orlando Sentinel:
‘The prosecutor believed Schneider needed sex offender treatment and the only way to ensure that was by making it part of probation conditions in a plea agreement, he said in a statement.’
Justin Scott Schneider, 34, pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree sexual assault for an August 2017 attack on a 25-year-old Native woman. He will face no jail time. https://t.co/u3BCNC7VK9
— FNX (@FNXTV) September 21, 2018
The governor in Alaska will also be held accountable by the voters in November.
‘Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, an independent facing re-election, vows to change state law that does not classify Schneider’s actions as a sex crime.’
When black American men spend years and sometimes even lifetimes in prison because of marijuana charges but a sexual abuser can go free under current law, every judge everywhere should be campaigning on this issue.
Featured image screenshot via YouTube