Kansas judge calls teenage girls 'aggressors' in sex abuse case and gives defendant reduced sentence

Source: Independent/Kansas City Star

Judge's comments have triggered outcry

Andrew Buncombe Seattle @AndrewBuncombe
4 hours ago



Prosecutors are considering launching an appeal after a judge branded two teenage girls “aggressors”, in the case of a 67-year-old man convicted of solicitation and gave him a reduced sentence.

Last December, Raymond Soden from Leavenworth, Kansas, pleaded guilty to a charge of electronic solicitation, after he admitted sending messages to a 13-year-old girl and offering to pay her for nude photographs and sex acts.

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But judge Michael Gibbens told a court he was sentencing Soden to just five years and 10 months in prison - eight years less than what was called for by Kansas sentencing guidelines.

He claimed the two girls involved in the case - aged 13 and 14 - were partly to blame for what had transpired, The Kansas City Star reported.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kansas-judge-teenage-girls-sexual-abuse-michael-gibbens-raymond-soden-a8763181.html

Judge Michael Gibbens sentenced Raymond Soden to less than six years’ jail, far less than sentencing guidelines suggested
The judge questioned how much the teenage victims had suffered from having sex with Soden, because they did not attend his sentencing

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 05 February, 2019, 7:52am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 February, 2019, 7:52am

Associated Press

US prosecutors are researching an appeal after a Kansas judge called two teenage girls the “aggressor” in a sexual encounter with a 67-year-old man and eased his prison sentence.

Leavenworth County District Judge Michael Gibbens sentenced Raymond Soden in December to five years, 10 months in prison for soliciting a 13-year-old on Facebook. Prosecutors had sought more than 13 years behind bars because Soden had prior convictions, the Kansas City Star reported.

Soden admitted in his plea to knowing that one of the young girls was 13 when he began exchanging messages with her online.

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He cited that the teens had voluntarily gone to Soden’s house and taken money for sexual favours as reasons for his decision to give Soden a prison sentence that is eight years less than what is called for in Kansas sentencing guidelines. Gibbens also questioned the level of harm the victims suffered because they didn’t appear at the sentencing hearing.

More:
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2185027/kansas-man-raymond-soden-67-solicited-girls-aged-13



Raymond Soden



Uncle Fester, Adams Family