Zona

This is an update on two posts I made a while ago.

To bring you newbies up to speed I had written where I was surprised that a Canadian court had sentenced a man to 25 years for a series of four rapes. Usually the sentence in Canada for something like that doesn't come close to 25 years.

Then in comparison I posted an article from the newspaper in my home town of Tucson, Arizona about a very similar case and how that rapist faced a MINIMUM sentence of 52.5 years.

Well yesterday a judge sentenced the man and I put the article below so you can get a feel of a judicial system where the victim's side gets more consideration.


Series of attacks nets 120 years
Local dad raped 4, assaulted 3 in 9-month span
By Kim Smith
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A Tucson father of four was sentenced to nearly 120 years in prison Monday for raping four women and attacking three others during a nine-month spree.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Lee sentenced Daniel Aaron Lopez, 27, after reading letters from Lopez's wife and parents, and after hearing impassioned statements from one of the victims and the parents of three others.

Lopez could have received as little as 52.5 years or as many as 400 years after being convicted in mid-December of 36 sexual assault and other criminal charges.

One of the victims' fathers urged Lee to imagine the "sheer, stark terror" of waking up with a man on top of you threatening to kill you if you screamed and then carrying out unspeakable acts for up to an hour. Imagine further, the father said, not knowing whether you were going to survive the attack.

The man told Judge Lee his daughter lost a four-year merit scholarship to the University of Arizona because she was so traumatized she had to leave Tucson. For a year, she had to worry and wonder if she had acquired a sexually transmitted disease or AIDS, he said.

Another father spoke of how hard it was to remain civilized during the trial with such an uncivilized man sitting so close.

"I hope prison is as awful as I hear it is and everything horrible happens to this guy," he said.
Perhaps Lopez "will spend eternity in raper's hell," the father said, drawing applause from the packed courtroom.

One mother expressed similar hopes.

"I hope you feel the anguish, terror and pain you caused my daughter," she said. "We'll see how strong you are. I hope you get what you deserve. Now it's your turn for all those sleepless nights."

The victim who spoke described often feeling "violated, scared, restless and alone" because of Lopez's "cowardly quest for power."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to sleep without a TV on to distract me or shower without a weapon nearby," she said.

Throughout it all, the woman said she has learned she is a survivor and, turning toward the other victims in the courtroom, she congratulated them for their courage in appearing in court.