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 Post subject: VU rapist gets 36 years + deportation
PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:17 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:30 pm
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This crime is #2 on our list of crimes committed by illegals in Indiana.


http://www.post-trib.com/news/1281111,v ... ce.article

VU rapist gets 36 years, faces deportation
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November 15, 2008

By James D. Wolf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent

VALPARAISO -- The man found guilty of raping one Valparaiso University student and attempting to rape another was sentenced to 36 years in prison Friday.
That is just short of the maximum 40 years that Arturo Garcia-Torres, 21, could have received for the charges of rape, attempted rape and two counts of burglary. He'd been found guilty Aug. 20.

After he serves time, he will be sent back to Mexico because he came here illegally when he was 15.

Judge Roger Bradford said that because Garcia-Torres committed the rapes separately, the 18-year sentences would be served consecutively.

The rape, committed in June 2005 in a Homer Court apartment, left the victim permanently scared physically and mentally, Bradford said. The attempted rape, committed in July 2005, wasn't as severe "only because Mr. Garcia-Torres wasn't able to complete what he intended," the judge said.

Neighbors called police because of the woman's screams.

The burglary charges would be served concurrent to the respective rape charges.

The probation department recommended 15 years in prison with all the charges served at the same time, and Garcia-Torres' attorney, Visvaldis Kupsis, said that objective viewpoint should be followed.

Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek argued for the 40-year maximum sentence because of the brutality of the crimes and what the women, who'd never seen him before, suffered when he forced his way into their homes.

His illegal status also was a factor, she argued.

"I think there are many, many other illegal aliens in our community, and I think it's appropriate to send them a message," she said.

Bradford said he couldn't give the maximum sentence because that is meant for the worst cases, and although this was bad, he's seen worse having happened in rapes, he said.

He didn't find Garcia-Torres' poor upbringing a mitigating factor.

"That would be an insult to the millions of people who came from those backgrounds and didn't become rapists -- or burglars," he said.

However, his illegal status was an aggravating factor.

"That is a four- or five-year criminal history of itself," Bradford said.

Garcia-Torres' attorney, Visvaldis Kupsis, has said since August that he plans to appeal the case because the police took a DNA sample from his client even though the client did not understand his rights.

The courts had ruled that a confession obtained when Garcia-Torres was in custody then couldn't be used because an officer's translation of the Miranda rights was inadequate.


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