The victim, along with two friends was present for sentencing and chose not to speak. She did submit a letter to Judge Cissna and conveyed certain requests through Deputy District Attorney Kelly Neel.
There were a few changes from the plea, one being that he did get some prison time, his attorney Mr. Neal Sanders tried to argue for 90 days in jail and increase in community service hours. Judge Cissna chose to sentence Young to 365 days in jail and he will be 5 years of formal supervised probation, 100 hours of community service, other than a $10,000 check that was given to the victim, Young's ex-wife in court on 8/19, a restitution hearing is set to determine additional restitution. Other than that the conditional plea terms remained the same as the final. He was served with a criminal protective order in court and he cannot possess firearms for life.
The sex offender registration language was modified and certain parts of the probation report were stricken after Mr. Sanders advocacy for his client. Mr. Young's mother paid his attorney fees.
There were passionate arguments back and forth between Ms. Neel and Mr. Sanders after Judge Cissna's tentative decision.
There was a mid-afternoon break scheduled in between attorney arguments and Judge Cissna apologized but it was late in the afternoon when sentencing started and he had called double calendars that day and the staff are required to have a break.
Ronald Young had expected to breeze through sentencing, perhaps get a lighter slap on the wrist and looked shocked and smug and showed no remorse. His brother, who was with him in court approached me during the break while I was working and harassed me and I told him to leave me alone. He just laughed and walked away. The Young family is not happy that I covered this case. One of the reasons I did is because Ronald Young still has a lot of support in the community, as evidenced by the many letters of support he was given. The community is not aware and would not be aware of cases like this and another woman could be a future victim Not every case make headlines and gets a press release issued when one is arrested.
As DDA Kelly Neel pointed out, while the people who knew Mr. Young and wrote these letters are sincere, "no one us knows what goes on beyond closed doors."
It was very telling that the victim's daughters wanted to be included in the protective order for the victim, Young's ex-wife. They were not but Judge Cissna said they could pursue their own protective orders.
I will update this post later with details of both attorneys arguments...
Last post:
Jul 15, 2015
Former HCOE teacher Ronald Young enters guilty plea to spousal abuse, false imprisonment and criminal threats
Instead of the contempt hearing scheduled a day before his jury trial, the victim, who was sitting next to me in court with a friend, watched as her ex-husband plead guilty to three counts.
Ronald Young, a former Humboldt County Office of Education teacher who was charged with four felonies and a misdemeanor, had his jury trial scheduled to start tomorrow.
He was charged with Count 1 Penal Code 220 (a) 1 Rape, Count 2 Penal Code 243.4 (a) Sexual battery, Count 3 Penal Code 236 False imprisonment, Count 4 273.5 (a) Inflict Corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant and Count 5 591.5 Damage/destroy Wireless Communication.
He plead guilty to three felonies this afternoon Count 4 Inflict Corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant , Count 3 False imprisonment and a Count 6 of Penal Code 422, criminal threats.
Counts 1, 2 and 5 were dismissed.
He is too register as a sex offender and while he could be sentenced to prison, the plea deal will most likely be for formal supervised probation. If he successfully completes probation, he will no longer be required to register as a sex offender.
He has to do a 52 week certified batterer's program and pay certain mandatory fines that are for crimes related to domestic violence, and he will be served with a mandatory criminal protective order. At the time of plea, "county jail time remained open" said Judge Cissna.
He is to pay restitution to the victim and at sentencing, he will make a payment of $10,000. He could be required to pay $10,000 fine for each felony.
If the plea is accepted, he will serve a total of five years and 8 months. Judge Cissna explained that the plea was the maximum of 4 years for the felony of spousal abuse and 8 months each consecutively for the other two counts.
This is a conditional plea that was entered today in front of Judge Timothy Cissna. After Probation weighs in on a pre-sentencing report, Judge Cissna can accept or reject the plea.
The plea deal was reached after DDA Kelly Neel consulted with the victim. I know this firsthand from the victim, whose story I have shared in my coverage.
Sentencing is August 19 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 4.
Ronald Young, a former Humboldt County Office of Education teacher who was charged with four felonies and a misdemeanor, had his jury trial scheduled to start tomorrow.
He was charged with Count 1 Penal Code 220 (a) 1 Rape, Count 2 Penal Code 243.4 (a) Sexual battery, Count 3 Penal Code 236 False imprisonment, Count 4 273.5 (a) Inflict Corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant and Count 5 591.5 Damage/destroy Wireless Communication.
Counts 1, 2 and 5 were dismissed.
He is too register as a sex offender and while he could be sentenced to prison, the plea deal will most likely be for formal supervised probation. If he successfully completes probation, he will no longer be required to register as a sex offender.
He has to do a 52 week certified batterer's program and pay certain mandatory fines that are for crimes related to domestic violence, and he will be served with a mandatory criminal protective order. At the time of plea, "county jail time remained open" said Judge Cissna.
He is to pay restitution to the victim and at sentencing, he will make a payment of $10,000. He could be required to pay $10,000 fine for each felony.
If the plea is accepted, he will serve a total of five years and 8 months. Judge Cissna explained that the plea was the maximum of 4 years for the felony of spousal abuse and 8 months each consecutively for the other two counts.
This is a conditional plea that was entered today in front of Judge Timothy Cissna. After Probation weighs in on a pre-sentencing report, Judge Cissna can accept or reject the plea.
The plea deal was reached after DDA Kelly Neel consulted with the victim. I know this firsthand from the victim, whose story I have shared in my coverage.
Sentencing is August 19 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 4.
http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/07/former-hcoe-teacher-ronald-young-enters.html
http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/07/defense-files-ordervof-contempt-in.html
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