A jury fed up with the early release of prisoners has recommended a 30,000-year sentence for a man convicted of raping a 3-year-old girl.
"We can send a message to the offender that we are not going to tolerate it," jury forewoman Laura Bixler said Wednesday. "We don't want him to have a chance of ever getting out again."Charles Scott Robinson, 30, an eight-time felon, was convicted of six rape counts. The jury sentenced him to 5,000 years on each count; the minimum sentence was 20 years per count.
Bixler said the jury would have returned a more realistic sentence if it was assured Robinson wouldn't be released early. The jury was told it could not sentence Robinson to life without parole.
County Public Defender Bob Ravitz, whose office defended Robinson, called the sentence "utterly ridiculous."
The Department of Corrections would consider the 30,000-year sentence to be the same as life.
District Judge Dan Owens is to sentence Robinson on Dec. 22.