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Sentence disparity in case of female sex offender?

John Aguilar, Daily Camera

Published July 1, 2008 at 7:34 a.m.
Updated July 1, 2008 at 7:34 a.m.

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Irene Gomez, 39, from Louisville.

Photo by Boulder County Sheriff's Office

Irene Gomez, 39, from Louisville.

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Monday's sentencing of a Louisville woman to 20 years of intensive supervised probation — but no prison time — for having sex with an underage boy once again raises the question of whether female and male sex offenders get equal treatment under the law.

Irene Gomez, 39, was sentenced in Boulder District Court more than a year after being arrested for having sex with the boy, with whom she had two children. One of their children was conceived when he was 13 and she was 32 and the other when he was 16 and she was 35, police said.

Some think she is getting away with a lesser punishment than men would in a similar position.

That includes prosecutor Amy Okubo, who lost her bid Monday to get Judge James Klein to include two years of work-release as part of Gomez's sentence.

"I don't think there's any question that (if the gender roles were reversed) we'd be talking about a prison sentence here," Okubo said. "Frankly, her behavior is outrageous."

The decision in the Gomez case follows several sex assault cases in Colorado where sentences given to female offenders were less severe than ones given to male offenders.

Former Brighton Charter High School teacher Carrie McCandless was sentenced to 45 days in jail and five years probation last year for providing alcohol to and having sexual contact with a 17-year old student.

By contrast, Littleton teacher and tennis coach Kevin Ponis was sentenced in 2005 to 11-years-to-life in prison after being convicted of having sex with one of his 17-year-old students.

For more of this Camera story, click here

Comments

  • July 1, 2008

    7:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    alwaysright writes:

    Sort of throws Equal rights out of wack Eh!

  • July 1, 2008

    8:16 a.m.

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    BroncoRick69 writes:

    People definitely need to loosen up a little.

  • July 1, 2008

    8:21 a.m.

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    vudumom writes:

    Nothing like living in the child friendly state of Colorado.

  • July 1, 2008

    8:24 a.m.

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    reddog writes:

    Gomez should have gotten some time. I agree with the article, men are sentenced differently. Remember the babe in Fla? Too cute to do time! Well I'm gonna try "to ugly to do time" and see how far that gets me.

  • July 1, 2008

    8:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    GWBushwacked writes:

    This is nationwide. I know of a case of a woman in Mass. who helped one of her boyfriend's friends hold a female down while her boyfriend raped the woman. She got probation, the guy also holding the woman down got 5 years.

    Look at the teacher in Seattle, she has a babe with her 6th grader---how much time did she serve ?????????

  • July 1, 2008

    8:38 a.m.

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    squeakywheel writes:

    Sentence disparity in case of female sex offender?

    Gee... d'ya think?

  • July 1, 2008

    8:48 a.m.

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    yeastyc writes:

    If you're mind is twisted enough to find a 13 year old sexually attractive, you need some prison time, man or woman

  • July 1, 2008

    9:07 a.m.

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    triumph110 writes:

    This is happening all over the country. Go to www.schoolteachernews.com and click on the Scandal page. They have documented over 270 of these types of incidents since just the beginning of 2008.

  • July 1, 2008

    9:35 a.m.

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    HolierThanThou writes:

    Our law is as stupid as the offenders are. Nature causes sexual maturity before 18 but the laws ignore this fact. Offenders where both parties are biologically mature enough to consent to the deed are an entirely different bunch from child rapists who prey on young children.

    To say that everyone suddenly makes a quantum leap to sexual maturity on their 18th birthday is patently nonsensical. A smart law would recognize this fact and take it into consideration by creating a separate class of offenders. Severe punishments need be reserved for child rapists who prey on children younger than from 14 to 18 who are neither sexually mature nor mentally capable of understanding consensual sex.

    Minors reach biological sexual maturity even if they don't grasp the long term consequences. Adult offenders in these cases need to be treated differently depending on factors such as mental maturity of the alleged victim, consent, trickery, and the utterance of false promises of love and commitment. If someone promises marriage to a 17-year old to gain sexual favors then they are punished unless they make every effort to keep their commitment. That's only one example. We pay judges and part of their job is to take these factors into account.

    The other problem the "equal punishment" crowd ignores is motherhood. Forcibly separating mothers and children bears a high social cost and risk. Even if the mother makes some bad decisions, it's usually better for the children to be raised with her than to suffer the trauma of separation and being bounced around the foster home system.

    Here's a fact that may surprise the "equal punishment" movement: men do not have babies. Many of us will make bogus promises in order to get sex. The simple biological reason for this is that we know that mothers tend to care for the children whether we do or not. That's cold blooded but it's the truth. So, in many cases this behavior itself is cause for the disparity in sentencing. For a 15-year old boy, having sex is an accomplishment without consequences while for a 15-year old girl getting pregnant is a disaster. She isn't even old enough to marry a man who would love her and the child.

    One thing this case illustrates is the failure of our schools to provide adequate sex education. Last I heard they were teaching what sex was and how it's done. I suggest adding a course on the result, which would be about the rigors of caring for infants and raising children.

    Include exercises and lab work in the curriculum. Give them simulated baby dummies that need to be fed, clothed, and entertained. Save some real poop for diaper changing practice and have male baby dummies the pee in your eye and giggle about it.

    Now that would be the icing on the sex ed cake.

  • July 1, 2008

    10:45 a.m.

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    hdfresh writes:

    There is no doubt here at least in this case, that the female got off with a slap on the wrist. If it was a male in the exact same scenario would have gotten minimum 5 years.

  • July 1, 2008

    11:17 a.m.

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    windbourne writes:

    It is time for the state congress to step in and come up with realistic guidelines on this. In particular, based on AGE and position, not on Sex.

  • July 1, 2008

    11:25 a.m.

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    GWBushwacked writes:

    Yeah, you can separate a mother and her baby, whose to say there are others not capable of raising another's child and do it well and say that the child will bounce around in foster homes ? What kind of great decisions is a parent going to make if they made the decision to sleep with someone who is clearly too young ?

    So a woman is the perpetrator and she should be held to different standards ? No.

  • July 1, 2008

    11:27 a.m.

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    LingLingfor_prez writes:

    Replace the judges and send them a message. Wish all judges had term limits,. Never agreed with the lifetime appointment thing.

  • July 1, 2008

    11:33 a.m.

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    SockRayBlue writes:

    I got it!

    The good lookers get a shorter time so they can get back into the "game". The "two baggers" kind of eliminate themselves.

  • July 1, 2008

    12:03 p.m.

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    DrJ writes:

    HolierThanThou: You have many good points, but to leave children in the care of a mother who is a convicted child molester. This could end up being the same disaster all over again with one of her own children. If she is willing to engage in sexual activity with a 13 year old then what makes anyone think she will not do the same with her own children. Taking children away from parents are done to protect them from possible harm, and may be the best thing for them.

  • July 1, 2008

    12:27 p.m.

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    sheepherder writes:

    Could you imagine if a 32 year old male knocked up a 13 year old! That guy would not see daylight for a long time!

  • July 1, 2008

    1:09 p.m.

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    gs writes:

    So have a child to stay out of prison? Does that work? is that why so many broke women have children?

  • July 1, 2008

    1:47 p.m.

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    Lesh writes:

    Same judge as the land grab huh, well that explains a lot. What a moron. She deserves as harsh of a sentance as a man.

  • July 1, 2008

    2:30 p.m.

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    OldFart writes:

    This is the Peoples Republic of Boulder and the birth place of idiot judges. Remember in the late 1990's and the judge who told the drunk driver that he probably drove better in the snow because he had a few. It seems like the feminists would be up in arms about this glaring discrimination based on gender, especially in Boulder. Oh wait, it works to their advantage so let’s not push the issue.

    I don't care how old the victim looks as far as physical maturity. The laws are on the books and the ADULT is responsible for his/her actions. Comments made trying to place the blame on a hormonal pre-teen or young teen is completely ridiculous. There is a difference in ages as it relates to sex with someone under the age of 18. The law recognizes the difference between a 13 year old and a 17 year old. However, the law also realizes that people in a position of trust: school teachers, clergy, scouts, law enforcement, firemen, parents, step-parents, day care providers and employers must be held to higher standards. I though that blaming the victim had pretty much gone the way of the do-do bird. I guess Boulder County proved me wrong.

    Male defendants / prisoners should be screaming discrimination. Female predators can feel free to molest, rape, assault and basically screw up a young kid’s life without fear of any serious consequences.

    SockRayBlue...I don't know how, but this woman isn't a two bagger, she is coyote ugly and she got off with a hand slap. You may actually have a chance to make your plan work, at least in Boulder County.