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August 30, 2005

Sexual abuser gets 200 years

Man assaulted his daughter, stepson

He sexually assaulted his stepson, raped his daughter when she was a grade-schooler and for those two acts, Edward Rodriguez got 200 years in prison Monday.

Denver District Court Judge Christina Habas looked at the shackled, trembling 60-year-old man with a graying mustache and slicked black hair and said Rodriguez had forever "forfeited his right" to live in society.

Habas said it was important that the children he violated know he was behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Prosecutor Kerri Lombardi, whose eyes were rimmed with tears after the sentencing, hugged one of the victims in the courtroom - the man's stepson who is now 18. Standing with fellow prosecutor David Lamb, Lombardi said she was satisfied with the judge's sentence, even though they had asked for a prison term of more than 800 years.

"He deserves every day of it," Lombardi said.

Rodriguez didn't speak during the proceedings, but his public defender, Susan Fisch, argued that her client was a victim of sexual abuse growing up and claimed the twitches he displayed in court were the result of a myriad of medical afflictions - including a degenerative neurological disorder.

"He was very damaged as a child," Fisch said. "He was in a place of torture that his children were."

The story of abuse in the Rodriguez household resulted in grim testimony during the trial of the man's ex-wife, Karen Rodriguez, this past month. She was found guilty on 24 counts of sexual abuse against the children at the behest of Edward Rodriguez - including dressing the stepson up in women's clothing to be sexually assaulted by him beginning at 5 years old and helping him rape the girl when she was 7 years old.

The sexual abuse against the stepson - Karen Rodriguez's son - lasted for about a decade.

Karen Rodriguez claimed she was the victim of terror and torture at the hands of her then-husband throughout that time period.

The 40-year-old, currently in the Denver County Jail awaiting an October sentencing, said Edward Rodriguez routinely beat her and chained her to the bed and door so she couldn't escape and said she was simply trying to keep her children alive on a day-to-day basis.

The mother said Edward Rodriguez regularly threatened to kill the entire family if she reported anything or tried to resist. She said he never left the house because he didn't have a job and was living off of Social Security disability checks. However, she did manage to escape to a neighbor's house and that led to his arrest in August 2004.

Her hope now, she said, was that Rodriguez would get a sentence that would never allow him to get out of prison.

"As long as that man is in jail, I go to bed knowing my children are safe," she said in an interview from jail.

Sigred Bollinder, a caseworker with the family, gave short testimony in court on behalf of the prosecution and said the children would have to bear the burden of abuse inflicted on them by Rodriguez for the rest of their lives.

Lamb said Rodriguez will likely spend 23 hours of each day in a situation similar to solitary confinement and that he wouldn't be eligible for parole for another 150 years.

During his argument for giving Rodriguez 624 years for the offense against the stepson and 200 years for the daughter, Lamb said the man was guilty of "infinite cruelty" and that the crimes were worthy of putting him in "a deep, dark hole" for the rest of his life.

"There really is no end to the pain this man has inflicted," Lamb said.

The mother of Karen Rodriguez, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions at her job, sat in the courtroom nervously clenching her hand near her mouth while Habas read Rodriguez his fate.

Karen Rodriguez's mother has argued in the past that it wasn't fair Edward Rodriguez only got slapped with two counts of sexual abuse while her daughter was charged and found guilty of 24 counts. That conviction will be appealed, she said.

However, the mother said she was glad to see the man roundly described as a "sexual sadist" get such a harsh penalty.

"I think it was justice. It was justice. I pray to God he doesn't get any way out of it," she said.

Along with the sentence - the judge allowed he will get credit for 301 days served - Rodriguez will be subjected to DNA testing, a full history disclosure of his experiences and a polygraph test. Without a hint of irony in her voice, she also mandated he register as a sex offender.

Posted by Nealus at August 30, 2005 03:36 PM

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