Defense lawyer scolded as sailors sentenced for child rape

EVERETT, WASHINGTON - A judge scolded a defense lawyer for trying to blame a 14-year-old girl for her rape by at least two locally based Navy sailors. <br> <br> The heated exchange occurred Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court as Leroy Lamar Holt, 20, of Folkston, Ga., was sentenced to 14 months in prison and Raymond Amanosi Odidi, 19, of Brentwood, N.Y., to a year and a day. <br> <br> Arguing for a less severe sentence, Holt&#39;s lawyer, Peter Mazzone, said the girl ``wanted to have sex&#39;&#39; and told the sailors she was older than her actual age, 14. <br> <br> Holt ``may have used bad judgment but didn&#39;t take advantage of anyone,&#39;&#39; Mazzone said. ``He should not have to pay for some whim of some woman, some girl, who could not foresee what would happen if she continued the way she did.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Judge Gerald L. Knight said he was tired of hearing the girl ``being trashed.&#39;&#39; He said Holt showed poor judgment as an adult and acted like ``an animal&#39;&#39; by having sex with others present. <br> <br> Nor does the girl look as if she could be 16, he said. <br> <br> ``When you have sex with somebody who is underage, you have no one to blame but yourself,&#39;&#39; Knight said. <br> <br> He said he considered a longer prison term for Holt, whose sentence was at the top of the state&#39;s standard range, ``but that would be me being mad at your attorney.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Both sailors pleaded guilty to third-degree child rape, similar to statutory rape, after prosecutors said they might file charges of second-degree rape. <br> <br> Holt and Odidi, who was born in the United States but grew up in Nigeria, were given credit for time in jail and thus should be released from custody by next spring. Second-degree rape convictions could have brought as much as 30 years in prison. <br> <br> Investigators believe Holt, Odidi and shipmate Keith Martin Jones, 22, of Copiague, N.Y., all assigned to the Everett-based USS Abraham Lincoln at the time, had sex with the girl July 5 during a drinking party at a motel with numerous others present. <br> <br> Jones also pleaded guilty to third-degree child rape but has moved to withdraw that plea and faces a hearing Dec. 13. <br> <br> Witnesses told police the girl lost her clothes during a drinking game and was raped by the three sailors while two friends yelled for them to leave her alone and others who were present stood by and did nothing. <br> <br> The girl needed surgery for vaginal bleeding, and her mother told the judge it would take some time to determine whether if her daughter would be able to bear children. The girl said she still has nightmares, must take medication and is in counseling.

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