You may be able to see it on WCVB.com the local TV website. I was able to watch in their app.
Are they saying he was found guilty of the felony having to do with use of the computer? That seems bogus to me: emailing someone you know IRL is not the kind of thing that was meant to punish.
Misdemeanor convictions sound reasonable.
It’s hard to tell what’s what.
“The jury of nine men and three women delivered a not guilty verdict on the felony sexual assault charges on the second day of deliberations. He was found guilty of four misdemeanors for sexual assault and one felony related to a computer charge.”
From the ABC news link
Have to assume justice was done. I believe in the jury system.
So what are the misdemeanor charges?
NYT: “St. Paul’s School Student Cleared on Most Serious Charges”
It appears that the felony computer charge carries 7-8 years in prison, per CNN. He lost it completely when this was read; very sad to watch. The victim’s family had a statement read that was scathing in its commentary towards SPS. Very sad, all the way around.
Well at least it’s something. I hope the girl can find some peace.
Sentencing mid-October according to one news account.
“Owen Labrie, now 19, could face 12 months of incarceration for each misdemeanor conviction and having to register as a sex offender for 10 years.”
According to this twitter report:
@jessbidgood but the computer felony makes him a tier II sex offender and he will have to register for life.
Allymanning is reporting that a Merrimack County prosecutor has clarified that as aTier II sex offender (the computer felony conviction) defendant will be a registered sex offender for life.
Hmmm the report that Labrie broke down in court makes me wonder if he couldn’t have reached a more favorable plea if he had accepted one when offered earlier??
I wondered the same thing @prospect1 : what plea deal did he leave on the table when he parted ways with the previous lawyer who negotiated one for him.
I don’t know that he deserves to be on the sex offender registry for life.
Can that felony conviction be appealed? This was not some interstate scheme to round up nude photos of minors or to set up some sort of perverted escort service with them…
MidWestDad3, who does the sentencing here? Will there be any leeway on jailtime for the computer felony, which carries 3.5-7 years? As awful as this was for the victim, I can’t imagine her family wants to see him in jail for years. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, because perhaps they do want that…I just know as the mother of a teenage girl, her father and I would not want this kid to go to jail. He’s lost his Harvard ticket and will be a lifetime registered sex offender, while the notoriety of the case will cost him many employment opportunities. I guess to us that would be justice enough and would surely serve to remind Owen daily of his wrongdoing.
So if I understand the verdict right, except for the computer felony, the other guilty verdicts were all related to her age (being under 16)? They did not find any of the accuser’s story of him biting her or ignoring her “no” or “scraping her insides” credible or “forcible” enough for a felony? It is just that she was 15 that was the problem for the jury?
As far as the computer conviction, if he had set up the meeting in person in the cafeteria at lunch, say, instead of through email, he wouldn’t be on the offender registry for life? If he’d spoken to her on the phone instead of emailing? Or is there more to the computer felony charge than that?
If that’s true about the misdemeanor sentencing, if the girl had also been 18, he likely would have gotten off scott free, I’m guessing, @bearpanther.
According to the prosecutor, the computer charge requires lifelong registration as a sex offender. I really think that that is asinine and cruel. A gross misuse of the statute. This was a kid emailing a girl he knew and saw on a daily basis, not some adult seducing a kid over the internet.
There must be tens of thousands of kids all over the country who are guilty of this “felony.”
BTW, this live feed has broadcast not only the victim’s last name, but his home address.