A 19-year-old boy from Minnesota pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with two teens. Yet he received a sentence of less than one year as part of a plea agreement struck with his victims' families.
Michael Stucky was ordered to serve just 361 days behind bars. But here's the kicker: he has already spent those days in jail while waiting for his trial. And that, folks, means that he will walk free ASAP even though his 15- and 13-year-old victims told investigators he raped them AND knew their ages.
Stucky, who was 18 at the time both crimes took place, got off with a slap on the wrist because all parties involved -- including the girls' parents -- agreed that this would be preferable to putting the teens through the "traumatizing" ordeal of testifying against their attacker in court.
The 15-year-old victim told police that she exchanged messages with Stucky over Facebook last year before inviting him over to her house at around 4 in the morning. They kissed, but she says she told him to stop when he tried to have sex with her. Instead of respecting the girl's wishes, he reportedly ripped off her clothes and raped her.
A few months before that incident, the teen accompanied a 13-year-old girl and her friend on a trip to the Mall of America. Later that day, she says she went back to a friend's house, where he raped her in the basement. The girl, who was only in the eighth grade, says she tried to fight him off.
These two girls have absolutely no reason to feel shame for what happened. The fact that they've been advised to keep quiet about their rapes is sad and sets women back about 200 years. Had they testified, Stucky could have received up to seven years in prison. Now he'll deal with 15 years of supervised probation and must attend a sex offender program, agree to random searches, and register as a predator.
I can't help it -- as the parent of a little girl, I am angry that he isn't getting everything he deserves for hurting these teens. I'm disappointed that the message these girls are receiving throughout this entire ordeal is that they should feel "traumatized" and not angry as hell that a boy decided he could do whatever he pleased with their bodies. I understand not wanting to see your child suffer and be embarrassed, but I also want my daughter to grow up in a world in which victims of sexual crimes can somehow regain the power they lost.
What do you think about this teen's reduced sentence?
Image via Dakota County Sheriff