Woman gets probation in underage sex case
John Aguilar, Daily Camera
Published June 30, 2008 at 12:21 p.m.
Updated June 30, 2008 at 12:21 p.m.
Photo by Boulder County Sheriff's Office
Irene Gomez, 39, from Louisville.
A 39-year-old Louisville woman who had two children with an underage boy was sentenced this morning to 20 of years probation and ordered to not have any contact with her children until she successfully completes sex offender treatment.
Irene Gomez, whose children were conceived with the boy when he was 13 and 16, had pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempted child sex assault as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.
"I don't think there's any question that (if the gender roles were reversed) we'd be talking about a prison sentence here," said prosecutor Amy Okubo, who had argued for a tougher sentence.
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June 30, 2008
12:36 p.m.
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LingLingfor_prez writes:
Probation, how nice. Why even have laws then? She did it not once, but twice.
June 30, 2008
12:36 p.m.
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freedomfighter1 writes:
This is discrimination! Men and women should be given the same sentence for the same crimes. Just more injustice in America!
June 30, 2008
12:37 p.m.
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HolierThanThou writes:
I guess the only question that remains is whether Dad will put down his Playstation and skateboard long enough to change a dirty diaper.
June 30, 2008
12:42 p.m.
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yeastyc writes:
Not just twice, she just got pregnant twice, that is so disturbing! She should be in jail, I wonder how the boy's parents feel about this.
June 30, 2008
12:55 p.m.
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jctf writes:
No doubt a man would have gotten 10-20 years, our system is shameful in this area!
June 30, 2008
1:12 p.m.
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Scott writes:
I'll bet that the MALE music teacher that was just sentenced to prison for having sex with a student would have preferred 20 years of probation!
To the Lawyer Lovers: Does this sentencing inequity explain to you why I call lawyers "prostitutes" and judges "pimps"? Or does your infatuation with the lowest level of society blind you to these glaring examples of inequity?
Scott
June 30, 2008
1:14 p.m.
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my3pugs writes:
Why did the the prosecutors make this plea agreement? Perhaps the boy was not willing to testify. How hard would it be to prove the crime without the boy's testimony? How long ago did this take place? Who was Amy arguing with for a tougher sentence?
June 30, 2008
1:21 p.m.
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happymike44 writes:
This woman is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The schools motto is We Turn Boys Into Men.
This kids dad was saying something like way to go and man what a stud.
His mother was probably wishing she could rip her hair out till she was bald.
The kid was thinking man I just lost my viginity dude.
Anyway you put it this broad needs to play with the adults and leave the kiddies alone.
Probation was all she got she should be on a steady diet of salt peter to keep her in check.
June 30, 2008
1:23 p.m.
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sheepherder writes:
What a system! Makes me sick!
June 30, 2008
1:25 p.m.
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Cowboy63 writes:
If this was a 39-year old MAN having two kids with a girl when she was 13 and 16 - he'd already be in Canon City!
June 30, 2008
1:28 p.m.
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my3pugs writes:
"attempted child sex assault"?? how is is it not "completed child sex assault"?
June 30, 2008
1:54 p.m.
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tm3869 writes:
Makes me sick to my stomach....If a man did this, they would have called for castration....she needs jail, time spent under the jail as a matter of fact......not once, but twice, she had kids by a kid himself!!!! She will still be on the streets to have contact with him or another boy.....
June 30, 2008
2:24 p.m.
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CyberHostage writes:
Un momento! "She" looks an awful lot like Michael Jackson. Has anybody really confirmed where he's hiding these days? After all, if anyone has the money and motive to pull off a wacky stunt like this, he does.
June 30, 2008
2:28 p.m.
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Who_Me writes:
Mary Kay LeTourneau received a suspended sentence at first, violated terms and conditions, and was sent away for the 8 years of her sentence. Some dude knocking up one of the Olsen twins at that age would be doing hard time. WTF is it with standards in the legal system?
June 30, 2008
2:32 p.m.
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squeakywheel writes:
So now that Ritter has signed SB200, if a man claims to be a woman, or wears women's clothing, can he get probation for the same crime?
June 30, 2008
2:33 p.m.
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squeakywheel writes:
Not that I'm planning anything, just asking.
;)
June 30, 2008
3:05 p.m.
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JSeifert writes:
This is plan Bull! If it was a guy it would be 20 years.
June 30, 2008
3:34 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
Hmmm...I wonder where her boy toy is now. Apparently, he is back in the market.
June 30, 2008
3:41 p.m.
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freedomfighter1 writes:
LOL...she does look like Michael Jackson.
June 30, 2008
3:42 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
steel, not for jail bait. Or should I say, probation bait. Young girls are jail bait, young boys are probation bait!
June 30, 2008
3:48 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
I think you took that wrong, steel! I am not looking for either!
June 30, 2008
3:56 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
What are you saying? That I will find a child? Or maybe you will?
June 30, 2008
3:58 p.m.
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fmikey writes:
So...with all the outrage in the posts above, can anyone - a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, law professor, anyone with some understanding of these issues - explain why there is such constant inequity in the sentences handed out between men and women who do these things? It is more than concidence, and a few isolated cases. What is the reasoning?
Is this just another example of the constant discrimination against men in our society?
Come on....someone with some real insight (not some of the uninformed people on this post), tell us why....
June 30, 2008
4:05 p.m.
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freedomfighter1 writes:
FMIKEY
Maybe because women can say they didn't want to and no one can prove them wrong. A lot of them come back later after they made some bad choices and claim rape. However, for a man or boy to have sexual intercourse proves that they wanted to. Just an idea from the uniformed.
June 30, 2008
4:08 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
steel, don't be silly. I don't take too much seriously. You will know when I do ;)
June 30, 2008
4:15 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
steel, what's important is that you enjoyed it when it happened.
June 30, 2008
4:20 p.m.
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HolierThanThou writes:
A lot of people seem to be upset over gender disparity in sentencing this sort of screw up.
Please, allow me to explain the facts of life to help you understand this:
1. Women (or teenage girls) have babies.
2. Men (or teenage boys) do not have babies.
Almost all women who have babies take care of them even if the man walks away.
Men who have sex with underage girls tend to walk away from their responsibility. If they intended to be responsible then they would propose marriage, do that first, and then have children and take care of them.
A man who impregnates an underage girl and walks away is already acting irresponsibly so putting him in prison has a relatively low social cost per unit of punishment.
If you put a mother in prison then you effectively orphan her children. This has an extremely high social cost per unit of punishment. Who will take care of the kids? So, the mother gets probation.
Why are you complaining about this disparity?
Here's something else to consider: people reach sexual maturity at a varying rates. Why is an arbitrary number like 18 so important? Some woman aren't ready until they're 30, others are hot to trot when they're 16. Same goes for males. Isn't the real issue about whether or not the couple is prepared to care for children?
If so then the side issue is whether or not the couple is applying necessary birth prevention if they don't intend to get married. Maybe American teenagers could stand more training in sex education that includes some descriptions about the rigors of caring for infants and raising children.
June 30, 2008
5:23 p.m.
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my3pugs writes:
So, HolierThanThou, women with children shouldn't be jailed? Because of the cost? What of the cost of inflicting herself on a minor. (look at her picture, inflict is right). Who can take car of her children? How about the childrens' other relatives, on the Mom's or the Dad's side.
"Isn't the real issue about whether or not the couple is prepared to care for children?" A 13 year old boy isn't ready, I'll go out on a limb and take a categorical stand on that on.
The fact is that she committed a class 3 felony and a class 4 felony and got NO jail time. Women who commit other felonies get jail, even if they have children. This did not happen because the prosecutors were lazy.
June 30, 2008
5:27 p.m.
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El_Guapo writes:
"A lot of people seem to be upset over gender disparity in sentencing this sort of screw up."
Are you always okay with gender disparity or just when it benefits women? I guess all those women who fought for equality were just plain wrong, right?
1. Women (or teenage girls) have babies.
Women have three choices when faced with an unwanted pregnancy: abortion, adoption, abandonment.
2. Men (or teenage boys) do not have babies.
Men have no choices when faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
You're behind the times: women can no longer be forced into parenthood, men can be.
"Almost all women who have babies take care of them even if the man walks away."
So that makes having sex with a 13-year-old boy okay? If he was your son, would you feel the same way?
"Men who have sex with underage girls tend to walk away from their responsibility."
So that makes it okay for women to have sex with 13-year-old boys? You truly believe this woman acted responsibly?
"If they intended to be responsible then they would propose marriage, do that first, and then have children and take care of them."
Uh, when did this woman propose marriage to the boy?
"If you put a mother in prison then you effectively orphan her children. This has an extremely high social cost per unit of punishment. Who will take care of the kids?"
If a single dad molested your daughter, would you make the same argument--we can't punish him because it would hurt his kids?
Just wondering.
June 30, 2008
5:30 p.m.
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Mtnmike293 writes:
This kid got this fine upstanding person pregnant twice in a three year period. First time he was 13 and the second he was 16. Who knows how many sexual contacts have taken place between her and this boy over the last several years. For the boy she was one step above self-pleasure behind a bathroom door. By the looks of her booking photo it is obvious the little boy was as good as she was gonna do in life. Thus the mutual relationship.
June 30, 2008
5:39 p.m.
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Who_Me writes:
In Colorado, you are in treatment as long as you are on probation, the two being intertwined now so much that you can't tell who's who anymore. She has a 20-year sentence to SO treatment, along with polygraphs (what a joke, don't get me started on the idiocy of those). The judge does not understand what successful completion of treatment means. 18 months? Not for about 12 years now. She can get permission to have contact, but as far as "do X and you get Y automatically," that just does not happen.
June 30, 2008
6:32 p.m.
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alwaysright writes:
If it was not for good ole gals there would not be any good ole boys.
June 30, 2008
8:16 p.m.
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maithoughts writes:
Did we all miss the fact that this happened in Boulder District court and no poodle or pink hair dye was involved?
June 30, 2008
9:56 p.m.
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Uno writes:
The law can be such a funny thing “attempted child sex assault” – so if she got pregnant (x2) what was the “attempted” part in this case?
Fmikey 3:58 pm, good questions, Andrea Yates comes to mind.
July 1, 2008
4:55 a.m.
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Shadow writes:
The "attempted" part of the sentance implies to me that a deal was struck. In other words cop to a plea of a lower crime so that we do not have to waste time in court.
A typical lawyer tactic that relieves prosecuters of doing their sworn job. To many criminals cop to a lower charge.
There are way to many news articals today about women in a position of trust sexually abuseing children. Yes a boy who is under the age of 16 is still a child. Many will argue men are still children mentally.
For some to imply that locking up a child molestor ( in these cases a woman) is bad for society because it leaves a child without a family is absurd. In many of these cases the boys family has stepped up to the plate to take care of this child.
20 years of probation is a joke. No its not a joke it is a slap in the face of anyone who has a shred of decentcy.
What we have here is a preditor that prays on children to fullfill her own sexual perversions.
I would like to know how they plan to enforce this probation for 20 years. Once the boy reaches the age of 18 he is considered an adult and then knowing he can get a quickie from her will more then likely be back for more.
Wil there be a P.O. at her house, in her bedroom, car, hotel, or where ever else she may meet this boy.
What a sad state we live in when we do not apply justice evenly across the board to all who break the law.