The man in this case was charged with forcible sexual assault. The man agreed to plead guilty to lewdness with prior offense, which was a lesser charge than the original one. The plea deal stipulated that he would spend 30 days in jail at a minimum.
The judge presiding over the case ended up issuing a continuance for the case citing the need for the man to have a psycho-sexual evaluation. Since he had a previous conviction for lewdness, the judge wants to determine if this is an isolated event or if the man has a larger problem. The judge said that information would affect sentencing.
This man had two prior incidents, but only one of which was handled in a criminal court. The criminal conviction was in 1994. The second incident was in 2006 when he lost his chiropractor’s license because of a sexual relationship with one of his patients. He got his license back three years later. In the most recent case, he was accused of grabbing a woman’s breasts and buttocks during an October 2014 examination.
As you can see, the downgraded charge in this case was a big difference from the original charge. While not all plea bargains work that way, defendants might consider plea deals as a way to get serious charges downgraded.
Source: Standard Examiner, “Former chiropractor’s sentencing for lewdness delayed,” Andreas Rivera, May. 27, 2015
