A University of Colorado student who raped an unconscious woman and later told investigators that she was a "fucking bitch" received no prison time from a judge Wednesday in the case after being convicted for sexual assault.
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“This defendant raped a helpless young woman ... tried to cover up his crime, and then repeatedly lied about what he did – including under oath,” prosecutors wrote about Austin James Wilkerson, 22.
Wilkerson could have been handed four years to life in prison after sexually attacking a college freshman woman. Prior to the sentencing, the victim pleaded with the judge to “have as much mercy for the rapist as he did for me that night.” However, the Judge Patrick Butler thought it was better to spare the defendant prison time and instead sentence Wilkerson to only two years of work release and probation.
“I’ve struggled, to be quite frank, with the idea of, ‘Do I put him in prison?’” Butler said in a statement following the ruling. “I don’t know that there is any great result for anybody. Mr. Wilkerson deserves to be punished, but I think we all need to find out whether he truly can or cannot be rehabilitated.”
Prosecutors were disappointed with the sentence.
None of this makes any sense. #AustinWilkerson should be in prison for 50 years, if not 50 lifetimes. pic.twitter.com/kJVGBaY6vz
— Mr. Make It Happen (@CS_Defi) August 11, 2016
“It does not satisfy our concerns about deterring one of the most prolific and impactful crimes of gender violence in our society,” Caryn Datz, Boulder county deputy district attorney, said in an interview. “In 2016, we still have a long way to go.”
Wilkerson's friends and family told the court that the rape was a "traumatic incident" for the rapist. Nevermind the trauma of the woman who got raped.
“When I’m not having nightmares about the rape, retaliation or a retrial gone awry, I’m having panic attacks,” she said. “Some days I can’t even get out of bed.”
Another prosecutor chalked up the lenient sentencing to privilege.
“These young, college-age offenders who perpetrate rape on campus are getting some sort of privileged discount … compared to other violent offenders,” Deputy District Attorney Lisa Saccomano said in an interview.
This is #AustinWilkerson. He told his drunk friend that he would take care of her. Instead he raped her. pic.twitter.com/KrPVTJqBoy
— Tony Clifton (@gabbySLC) August 11, 2016
A staggering 37 percent of women have been raped, or subjected to an attempted rape, by the time they start their second year of college, according to a 2015 study carried out by Brown University. A survey relased in February revealed that 28 percent of students at the University of Colorado say they are sexually assaulted during their time in college.
Charges of rape and other sexual assaults on college and university campuses — and how school officials investigate and respond to them — have received significant media attention in recent months.
On a national level, a 2016 study carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Justice which examined of the sexual victimization of college undergraduate students found that among the schools surveyed only 4.3 percent of sexual battery incidents and 12.5 percent of rape incidents were reported by the victim to any official.