Labelle man to serve up to 80 years for raping a child
A LaBelle man will spend up to 80 years in prison for raping a 4-year-old, which is 20 years short of what the prosecution asked for in a hearing in Fayette County Court on Thursday.
Fred Augusta Mitchell, 46, was found guilty in January of rape, rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old, two counts of aggravated indecent assault and two counts of indecent assault.
Following the trial, Mitchell was evaluated by Herbert Hays of the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board and determined to be a sexually violent predator. Judge Joseph M. George Jr. accepted Hays’ determination and ordered Mitchell to undergo lifetime counseling at least once a month, as well as register as a sexual offender quarterly for the rest of his life.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony S. Iannamorelli Jr. explained that the prosecution was looking for the mandatory minimum sentence at each of the first four counts, to run consecutively, for a total of 100 years in prison.
Iannamorelli stated that when the victim was asked how many times the sexual abuse had occurred, she reported, “One more time and it will be 100, grandma.”
“The commonwealth is asking for one more year above that to show this behavior will not be tolerated,” Iannamorelli said.
The victim’s mother addressed the court with an impact statement, saying her daughter is distant and full of anxiety from the abuse.
“She’s not my little girl anymore,” the mother said.
“She’s sad, and it’s sad for me.”
“She’s not like a 6-year-old should be — happy,” she said.
The victim’s grandmother also spoke to the court, but she was so overcome with emotion, she could barely read her prepared statement.
She described an incident in which the victim was unable to do her school work, because it involved reading a story book with a main character named “Fred”.
“She wouldn’t bring the book home,” the grandmother said.
The woman said the victim is not the same as she used to be.
Wiping away tears, she said, “I try to tell her it’s not her fault.”
George sentenced Mitchell to 20 to 40 years for rape of a child, and 10 to 20 years each for the involuntary deviate sexual intercourse charges, for total sentence of 40 to 80 years.
The rape and rape of a child charges merged for sentencing purposes, although Iannamorelli argued against that.
Charges merge for sentencing when the crimes arise from a single criminal act and all of the statutory elements of one offense are included in the statutory elements of the other offense, thus protecting defendants from double jeopardy for being punished twice for the same crime.
There was no further penalty for the aggravated and indecent assault charges.
George noted that the sentence imposed was above the guideline ranges, after taking into consideration the age of the victim, the fact that Mitchell was found guilty by a jury of his peers, and Mitchell’s lack of remorse.