teachercrime
11-29-2008, 10:28 AM
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Thomas-Filion.jpg
Thomas Filion
Thomas Filion was in Saratoga County Court on Monday when he faced up to 7 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage boy.
The subsequent decision to sentence the 68-year-old retired guidance counselor to serve 3 months in Saratoga County Jail has sparked a debate between the county judge and the county district attorney, with neither accepting responsibility for the length of the sentence.
In September, Filion admitted to sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in a YMCA locker room and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of second-degree criminal imprisonment, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.
The incident occurred last November in the locker room at the Saratoga Springs West Side YMCA.
Prior to the judge's sentencing in County Court on Monday, the victim described his year of personal turmoil following the assault and requested the maximum punishment in the case, a term that prosecutors said they agreed with.
After the sentence was handed down, Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said he was "shocked" and "very disappointed" by the 3-month sentence.
Because Filion pleaded guilty to all four counts against him, the sentencing in the case was left up to the judge, Murphy said.
Saratoga County Judge Jerry Scarano said that he considered a pre-sentencing report based on an interview with Filion in deciding the case.
Scarano said the Probation Department report recommended the 3-month sentence.
Murphy did not appear in court, but Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Jensen alleged during the hearing that Filion "had the audacity" to try casting the blame for the incident on the victim and was unrepentant.
Jensen, a former Warren County assistant district attorney, was named head of the Saratoga County District Attorney Office's sex crimes unit in 1994.
Murphy, who has been with the District Attorney's Office since 1988, is serving his third four-year term as the county district attorney after his re-election in 2005.
"The district attorney may be 'troubled' and 'shocked' by my failure to sentence the defendant to state prison, but the idea of no prison time originated from his office and not from this court," Scarano said in a statement.
Scarano explained that during a pre-trial conference with Jensen and lawyer Stephen Coffey -- who represented Filion -- Jensen indicated that in order to avoid a trial, she would be satisfied with a plea of guilty with a sentence of no more than 6 months of local jail time, 10 years probation and sex offender registration.
"The Probation Department in the comprehensive pre-sentence investigation report recommended 3 months jail with 10 years probation and sex offender registration. I agreed with that recommendation and the defendant was sentenced accordingly," said Scarano, who is also a Republican and is serving his second 10-year term in the County Court post after he was re-elected in 2004.
Murphy countered that Scarano's statement -- that the "idea of no prison time" for the YMCA sex offender originated from the District Attorney's Office -- was "unequivocally" not true, and added that after Filion pleaded guilty to the entire indictment, Filion's lawyer stated that he was throwing his client at the mercy of the court.
"The only reason why a defendant would plead to the entire indictment is to take the District Attorney's Office out of sentencing," Murphy said in a statement.
"When a defendant pleads to the entire indictment, the sentence is solely up to the judge."
Scarano and Jensen have had public disagreements in the past regarding sentencing.
In October 2000, Scarano sentenced a former counselor and physical education teacher at the Charlton School for girls to a year in county jail after he admitted to raping one of his students.
The victim, who was 15 years old at the time, was allegedly a family friend who became pregnant with the 28-year-old teacher's child.
Even though the sex may have been consensual, because of the girl's age, the teacher faced four felony counts and eight misdemeanor counts related to the in incidents, which occurred over a two-month period in 1999.
He was sentenced by Scarano to eight one-year terms and four 60-day terms to be served concurrently.
Jensen, who prosecuted the case, recommended the teacher spend time in state prison.
"To say we are disappointed in the sentencing is a gross understatement," Jensen said at the time.
In addition to his 3-month jail sentence, Filion was ordered to surrender his teaching license, sign an order of protection barring him from seeing the victim again, and register as a Level 1 sex offender.
He will be under supervision by the Probation Department for 10 years.
http://teachercrime.com/new_york.html
Thomas Filion
Thomas Filion was in Saratoga County Court on Monday when he faced up to 7 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage boy.
The subsequent decision to sentence the 68-year-old retired guidance counselor to serve 3 months in Saratoga County Jail has sparked a debate between the county judge and the county district attorney, with neither accepting responsibility for the length of the sentence.
In September, Filion admitted to sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in a YMCA locker room and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of second-degree criminal imprisonment, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.
The incident occurred last November in the locker room at the Saratoga Springs West Side YMCA.
Prior to the judge's sentencing in County Court on Monday, the victim described his year of personal turmoil following the assault and requested the maximum punishment in the case, a term that prosecutors said they agreed with.
After the sentence was handed down, Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said he was "shocked" and "very disappointed" by the 3-month sentence.
Because Filion pleaded guilty to all four counts against him, the sentencing in the case was left up to the judge, Murphy said.
Saratoga County Judge Jerry Scarano said that he considered a pre-sentencing report based on an interview with Filion in deciding the case.
Scarano said the Probation Department report recommended the 3-month sentence.
Murphy did not appear in court, but Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Jensen alleged during the hearing that Filion "had the audacity" to try casting the blame for the incident on the victim and was unrepentant.
Jensen, a former Warren County assistant district attorney, was named head of the Saratoga County District Attorney Office's sex crimes unit in 1994.
Murphy, who has been with the District Attorney's Office since 1988, is serving his third four-year term as the county district attorney after his re-election in 2005.
"The district attorney may be 'troubled' and 'shocked' by my failure to sentence the defendant to state prison, but the idea of no prison time originated from his office and not from this court," Scarano said in a statement.
Scarano explained that during a pre-trial conference with Jensen and lawyer Stephen Coffey -- who represented Filion -- Jensen indicated that in order to avoid a trial, she would be satisfied with a plea of guilty with a sentence of no more than 6 months of local jail time, 10 years probation and sex offender registration.
"The Probation Department in the comprehensive pre-sentence investigation report recommended 3 months jail with 10 years probation and sex offender registration. I agreed with that recommendation and the defendant was sentenced accordingly," said Scarano, who is also a Republican and is serving his second 10-year term in the County Court post after he was re-elected in 2004.
Murphy countered that Scarano's statement -- that the "idea of no prison time" for the YMCA sex offender originated from the District Attorney's Office -- was "unequivocally" not true, and added that after Filion pleaded guilty to the entire indictment, Filion's lawyer stated that he was throwing his client at the mercy of the court.
"The only reason why a defendant would plead to the entire indictment is to take the District Attorney's Office out of sentencing," Murphy said in a statement.
"When a defendant pleads to the entire indictment, the sentence is solely up to the judge."
Scarano and Jensen have had public disagreements in the past regarding sentencing.
In October 2000, Scarano sentenced a former counselor and physical education teacher at the Charlton School for girls to a year in county jail after he admitted to raping one of his students.
The victim, who was 15 years old at the time, was allegedly a family friend who became pregnant with the 28-year-old teacher's child.
Even though the sex may have been consensual, because of the girl's age, the teacher faced four felony counts and eight misdemeanor counts related to the in incidents, which occurred over a two-month period in 1999.
He was sentenced by Scarano to eight one-year terms and four 60-day terms to be served concurrently.
Jensen, who prosecuted the case, recommended the teacher spend time in state prison.
"To say we are disappointed in the sentencing is a gross understatement," Jensen said at the time.
In addition to his 3-month jail sentence, Filion was ordered to surrender his teaching license, sign an order of protection barring him from seeing the victim again, and register as a Level 1 sex offender.
He will be under supervision by the Probation Department for 10 years.
http://teachercrime.com/new_york.html