A man convicted of raping a six-year-old girl has been sentenced, but it’s not the sentence Anderson County Attorney, Elizabeth Oliver had asked for. A District Court Judge sentence 18-year-old Sean Williams of Garnett, to a little over 12 years. The sentence came after a motion from his defense counsel asked for departure from the Kansas Standard Sentencing Guidelines. Anderson County District Court Judge Eric Godderz, agreed to a motion from Williams’ attorney , John Boyd of Ottawa, to reduce Williams sentence due to his lack of previous criminal record, his young age, his low risk of recidivism according to an evaluation and the fact that he himself was a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
He will be on lifetime post-release supervision and will be required to register as a sex offender. Oliver says the reduced prison sentence is less than optimal, from the state’s perspective; but, ultimately shielded a very young child from the traumatic experience of testifying at trial.
