Plea Offer Open for Child Sex Abuse Defendant

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Parties discussed a possible plea offer for a defendant charged with second-degree child sex abuse.

The 48-year-old defendant is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. According to court documents, when the victim attempted to stop him he allegedly said, “it’s gonna be quick, stop making noise.”

During the most recent hearing on Feb. 7, the defendant was appointed a new lawyer, David Vega. Vega said he plans on retaining a forensic psychologist to perform a risk assessment evaluation for the defendant.

The prosecutor said they were in plea negotiations with the previous defense counsel and plan on continuing. They asked DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun for a two to three-week continuance so the defendant could accept or deny the plea offer. However, Vega wanted a six to eight-week continuance since the risk assessment evaluation will take more than three weeks.

After conversing in private and hearing the reasoning for both requests, Judge Okun decided that the risk assessment was not necessary for this case and sided with the prosecution on a shorter continuance. He scheduled parties to reconvene on March 2.

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