Like Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, another young athlete was given an extremely lenient sentence for sexual assault, but this case involved two girls and no jail time.
18-year old David Becker was sentenced to two years of probation after being accused of raping two unconscious female East Longmeadow High School classmates. Not only did he escape jail time, the former “three-sport Massachusetts high school athlete,” will NOT have to register as a sex offender. Court documents reported that Becker and the victims were at a house party drinking while a classmate’s father was out of town.
From Mass Live:
Becker, the victims and another friend stayed at the house and helped clean. After they finished, one of the victims said, both girls went into an upstairs bedroom -one requiring assistance walking up the stairs-, and Becker later came in to talk, before they all fell asleep in the same bed. Each reported waking up to Becker sexually assaulting them.
In a text message to one of the victims the next day, Becker apologized for the assault, court records show. The victim responded with a text telling Becker “don’t even worry about it,” but later told police that she said this because “she did not know what else to say,” Ingalls’ police report states.
Becker was arraigned in Palmer District Court on two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14. Based on evidence, Hampen County Assistant District Attorney Eileen Sears reportedly recommended Becker be found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and battery and serve two years in prison.
District attorney spokesman James Leydon said one of the two victims provided a victim impact statement saying that she did not believe jail time is necessary. Neither victim attended Becker’s court proceedings. “We considered all mitigating factors, that’s why we allowed him to plead to a reduced charge but we also considered the aggravating factors, that is why jail time was recommended,” Leydon’s statement reads.
On Monday, Palmer District Court Judge Thomas Estes sentenced Becker to two years of probation after ordering the case continued without a finding for two years on August 15. The terms of his probation demand that he abstain from drugs and alcohol, be evaluated for sex offender treatment, and avoid all contact with his two victims. If he successfully completes those terms, then there will be no conviction on his record. Plus, he’s allowed to serve out his probation in Ohio where he’s reportedly attending college.
“He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender,” Becker’s defense attorney Thomas Rooke, told reporters. “The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience.”
“We all made mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn’t be branded for life with a felony offense and branded a sex offender,” Rooke said. “Putting this kid in jail for two years would have destroyed this kid’s life.”
