A former Massachusetts high school star athlete will not receive any jail time for sexually assaulting two unconscious classmates at a house party in April, the Associated Press reported.
The case against David Becker was continued without a finding for two years last week in Palmer District Court. He was sentenced to two years of probation.
His attorney told Mass Live that his client can now have a productive life without worrying about being labeled a sex offender.
"He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender," Becker's attorney, Thomas Rooke, said in court. "The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience."
Becker, 18, was charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault after incident in April in which he digitally penetrated two victims while they were unconscious, Mass Live reported.
Prosecutors had recommended he serve two years, but Judge Thomas Estes delivered the two-year probation sentence. A petition has been started to have him removed from the bench.
"After careful consideration of all available information and a lengthy and thorough investigation by the District Attorney's Special Victims Unit and the East Longmeadow Police Department, the recommendation of jail time was deemed appropriate and fair based on the facts and circumstances of the case," James Leydon, a spokesman for Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni's office, told Mass Live in an email.
According to the police report, Becker and the victims had been at a house party drinking alcohol and stayed after to help clean up and sleep. The young women told police that they had been sleeping and woke up to find Becker violating them.
During his two-year probation, the 18-year-old must remain drug- and alcohol-free, submit to an evaluation for sex offender treatment and stay away from the two 18-year old victims.
Becker had planned to attend the University of Dayton, but on Monday, the university said he would not be a student there.
Becker's sentencing follows two other high-profile rape cases this year that have been criticized for light sentencing.
Stanford rapist Brock Taylor received a six months sentence instead of the 14 years he could have gotten for digitally raping a woman who was passed out next to a dumpster.
Former University of Colorado student Austen Wilkerson received no jail time for raping an acquaintance after promising her friend he would make sure she made it back to her home safely. Wilkerson received a sentence of 20 years of probation and two years on work release.
