Photo: San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office
Lyle Burgess, 79, was sentenced last week after he pleaded no contest in April to statutory rape of a child.
Burgess’ attorney, Gregory Davenport, says his client denies molesting the child, who was then 5, and accepted the plea deal because of his frail health.
“He didn’t want to put the young girl through the rigors of a trial either,” Davenport says.
The child’s family sees it differently.
“He is basically walking away getting to live in his mansion for nine months and that is not much of a penalty at all, if any,” their lawyer, Kenneth Meleyco, tells PEOPLE. “They are going to have to deal with this for the rest of their life, and their daughter is going to have to deal with it for the rest of her life. There is no penalty here at all.”
Meleyco is representing the girl’s family in a civil suit against Burgess, the founder of a Stockton automotive parts manufacturing and distribution company who has since retired.
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In a statement, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office explained that Burgess’ plea was reached based on an “assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence presented in the case, along with a review of the case facts and testimonies presented at the preliminary hearing.”
Prosecutors also noted that the child had not been sexually penetrated and that her parents agreed to Burgess’ no-contest plea.
However, Meleyco says, the girl’s mom felt as though she was not given a choice.
The Case So Far
Burgess was arrested on Nov. 23, 2016, and initially charged with four counts of lewd acts upon a child, according to the D.A.’s office.
Burgess pleaded no contest in April and was sentenced on May 23. As part of his plea, he was not required to register as a sex offender.
The sentence, the prosecutor’s office said, was based on Burgess’ age and health condition.
At the hearing last week, the girl’s mothertearfully spoke out about her displeasure.
The victim’s father — who, according to Meleyco, worked with Burgess — was also in court and said: “I don’t have too many prized possessions in this world other than my family. [My daughter] will remember this the rest of her life. She sleeps on the floor outside our room.”
Meleyco says the case is “a clear example of how, even now in 2018, if you are white, prominent and wealthy, privilege still prevails in the U.S. justice system. … The D.A. has given him the opportunity to molest again.”
Davenport says the idea that Burgess’ deal was based on his white privilege is nonsense.
“The reason this occurred is because of the lack of sexual conduct in the case,” he says. “[The D.A.] took a very close look at this.”
source: people.com
