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April 23, 2005
Sex abuse of teen nets 6 months in jail, probation
WAILUKU – A 44-year-old Wailuku man was ordered to serve a six-month jail term for sexually assaulting a teenage boy last year.
Michael Deatherage said during Thursday’s sentencing hearing, at which he was placed on five years’ probation, that he was sorry for what he did.
“I’m completely devastated that I hurt (the boy) and his family,” Deatherage said. “I didn’t intend to do this.”
He had pleaded no contest to third-degree sexual assault.
Defense attorney Joseph Toma said Deatherage, who has no prior criminal record, has sought treatment and underwent a psychological evaluation.
The psychologist’s report noted that “with treatment, the defendant is not likely to present a danger to the community,” Toma said.
“He is not a child sexual predator,” Toma said. “He does not frequent game parlors and places where children hang out. It’s clear that in this case, there was no threat, no violence and no coercion whatsoever.”
But the father of the victim, who was 13 years old at the time, said he believed Deatherage “had an agenda” targeting the boy, who quickly reported the improper sexual touching last July.
“He responded to this with utter shock,” the father said in court. “I think he did an outstanding job in reacting to this. The phone call I got from my son is still fresh in my mind.”
Referring to Deatherage, the father said: “He really hurt my family.”
Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp said Deatherage had been a close friend of the family, which trusted him with the boy and other children.
Deatherage had been “grooming” the victim, saying that he would take the boy to Disneyland if his grades had improved at the end of the school year, Hupp said.
Deatherage said he had intended to take the whole family to Disneyland.
“If the victim in this case hadn’t reacted the way he did and immediately reported this to his parents, a much worse situation could have occurred,” Hupp said. “He was close to the defendant. He trusted the defendant. They would go to movies together.”
The boy reported that he and Deatherage had returned from the movies when Deatherage pulled the boy onto his lap and began tickling him at a Lahaina residence. Deatherage improperly touched the boy twice before he ran into his bedroom, Hupp said.
He said the psychological evaluation showed that Deatherage has “a promise of recovery” but also that “he is a sexual predator in some form.”
“Hopefully he can get past this,” Hupp said. “This child did not deserve to have this horror put on him.”
While Toma argued for no jail time for Deatherage, Hupp sought the maximum nine-month term that the prosecution could request under terms of a plea agreement.
In addition to imposing the six-month jail term, 2nd Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto ordered Deatherage to have no contact with the victim and his family and to participate in the Hawaii Sexual Offender Treatment Program.
Deatherage also was ordered to register as a sex offender.
“It’s the victimization of children that’s the real issue,” Raffetto said. “It’s a kid who trusted you. In the court’s view, that’s the really egregious aspect of that.”
Posted by Nealus at April 23, 2005 07:39 PM
