A FORMER police officer who
grabbed a schoolteacher off the street and sexually attacked her was sentenced
on Monday to at least three quarters of a century in prison after being
convicted of high-level sex charges, though a jury couldn't decide whether he
was guilty of rape.
fter staying silent during
his trial, Michael Pena apologised to the victim and said he deserved to be
punished, though his lawyer later said Pena was shocked at getting 75 years to
life, the maximum possible sentence for his conviction.
"If I could go back in
time, to the day of this incident, and somehow grab myself by the shoulder. ...
I have no explanation for what happened that day," Pena said softly, his
remarks punctuated by long silences. "I will just have that guilt for the
rest of my life."
Capping a trial that
portrayed a hideous, sudden assault by an off-duty officer, the judge
excoriated Pena as an embarrassment to police, while the woman said the attack
- on her way to her first day of work at a new job - had destroyed her life. (AP)
No comments:
Post a Comment