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Former Western High football player gets 15 months in prison for molestation
Sentence angers parents of teen's victims
By Rafael A. Olmeda
Staff Writer
Posted February 16 2005
A teenager who admitted molesting four elementary school girls was sent to prison Tuesday, but his 15-month sentence angered the families of his victims, who had asked that he serve at least the next decade behind bars.
Shawn Strawser, 19, listened quietly as Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold told him he would spend a little over six years on probation once his prison term was up.
Members of the victims' families glared at the judge, having spent much of the afternoon telling him about the devastating effect Strawser's actions had on their lives.
Strawser pleaded no contest in October to four counts each of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation.
At a sentencing hearing Monday, Strawser confessed he developed games to coax the four girls, all friends of his little sister, into performing oral sex.
"I hope he doesn't come near me after 15 months," said one victim's father, shaking his head in disbelief outside the courtroom.
"Shawn Strawser admitted molesting these children, and all he received is 15 months?" another said. "What else does the judge need? Does he need it written on a chalkboard?" The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not publishing the parents' names to protect the girls' identities.
Strawser sat mostly in silence throughout the day as three of his victims and their parents took the stand to denounce him, most accusing him of showing remorse only because he'd been caught.
"All they wanted to do was play with your little sister," one mother said, addressing Strawser. As Strawser looked down at his folded hands, she continued, "You can't even look at me now, can you?"
She accused Strawser of using her daughter as a "human garbage can" and said he needed to be jailed.
"You need to sit in four walls with your head between your legs, crying about what you did," she said. "That's what we've done."
The three victims who testified said they didn't believe Strawser was truly sorry.
"Did Shawn ever say he was sorry to you?" Assistant State Attorney Thomas Crowder asked one 11-year-old victim.
"No," she said.
The charges sharply divided the community when they surfaced in 2003. Strawser, a popular football player, denied the allegations, and many of his friends stood by him and his parents. Most of those friends were not in court Tuesday. The judge noted their absence.
Strawser's only reaction was an outburst to the judge where he pleaded to remain out of jail. Sobbing uncontrollably, Strawser said "If you want me to clean bubble gum off sidewalks, I will clean bubble gum off sidewalks. If you want me to clean tile grout with a toothbrush, I will do that. But please don't send me to jail. They are going to abuse me in there."
Gold requested that Strawser's plea be added to the notes, but then said that it be noted at this time that Strawser still did not apologize for what he had done. Gold said he thought Strawser really was remorseful, not likely to commit the same crime again, and did not truly appreciate the consequences of his actions at the time he committed them. Gold cited those findings in keeping the prison sentence light but rejected defense lawyer Jeffrey Voluck's request for a sentence consisting only of probation.
"I don't know what else this man could say or do to convince any of us in this courtroom" that he's remorseful, Gold said. "Clearly, the future that he could have had is gone. Is that enough?"
It wasn't, he said, answering his own question. But Voluck was relieved when Gold said a life sentence would be too harsh and imposed four 15-month sentences to run concurrently, with 75 months of probation to follow. He gets credit for 21 days of time served.
"The psychiatrist testified that these were acts of immaturity, not of a predator," said Voluck, noting that Strawser was 15 at the time of the molestations. The victims' families disputed that, saying the molestations took place when he was four months shy of his 17th birthday. The girls were between the ages of 7 and 10 at the time.
"I know the judge anguished over this decision," Voluck said.
Strawser's father, Devlin Strawser, said he was grateful for the judge's mercy.
"This young man has, other than this, done nothing in his life to break the law in any way," he said. "My son is very remorseful, and my family, for all that has transpired."
Strawser's mother, Lisa Strawser, was sobbing outside the courtroom at the thought of her son spending more than a year in prison.
"He never wanted to hurt any of them," she said. "He tries to be honest, and this is what happens. All he wanted to do was go to college."
One victim's father was unimpressed. "I was molested as a child," he said. "It was 37 years ago. Nothing ever happened to the guy."
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4207.
Sentence angers parents of teen's victims
By Rafael A. Olmeda
Staff Writer
Posted February 16 2005
A teenager who admitted molesting four elementary school girls was sent to prison Tuesday, but his 15-month sentence angered the families of his victims, who had asked that he serve at least the next decade behind bars.
Shawn Strawser, 19, listened quietly as Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold told him he would spend a little over six years on probation once his prison term was up.
Members of the victims' families glared at the judge, having spent much of the afternoon telling him about the devastating effect Strawser's actions had on their lives.
Strawser pleaded no contest in October to four counts each of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation.
At a sentencing hearing Monday, Strawser confessed he developed games to coax the four girls, all friends of his little sister, into performing oral sex.
"I hope he doesn't come near me after 15 months," said one victim's father, shaking his head in disbelief outside the courtroom.
"Shawn Strawser admitted molesting these children, and all he received is 15 months?" another said. "What else does the judge need? Does he need it written on a chalkboard?" The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not publishing the parents' names to protect the girls' identities.
Strawser sat mostly in silence throughout the day as three of his victims and their parents took the stand to denounce him, most accusing him of showing remorse only because he'd been caught.
"All they wanted to do was play with your little sister," one mother said, addressing Strawser. As Strawser looked down at his folded hands, she continued, "You can't even look at me now, can you?"
She accused Strawser of using her daughter as a "human garbage can" and said he needed to be jailed.
"You need to sit in four walls with your head between your legs, crying about what you did," she said. "That's what we've done."
The three victims who testified said they didn't believe Strawser was truly sorry.
"Did Shawn ever say he was sorry to you?" Assistant State Attorney Thomas Crowder asked one 11-year-old victim.
"No," she said.
The charges sharply divided the community when they surfaced in 2003. Strawser, a popular football player, denied the allegations, and many of his friends stood by him and his parents. Most of those friends were not in court Tuesday. The judge noted their absence.
Strawser's only reaction was an outburst to the judge where he pleaded to remain out of jail. Sobbing uncontrollably, Strawser said "If you want me to clean bubble gum off sidewalks, I will clean bubble gum off sidewalks. If you want me to clean tile grout with a toothbrush, I will do that. But please don't send me to jail. They are going to abuse me in there."
Gold requested that Strawser's plea be added to the notes, but then said that it be noted at this time that Strawser still did not apologize for what he had done. Gold said he thought Strawser really was remorseful, not likely to commit the same crime again, and did not truly appreciate the consequences of his actions at the time he committed them. Gold cited those findings in keeping the prison sentence light but rejected defense lawyer Jeffrey Voluck's request for a sentence consisting only of probation.
"I don't know what else this man could say or do to convince any of us in this courtroom" that he's remorseful, Gold said. "Clearly, the future that he could have had is gone. Is that enough?"
It wasn't, he said, answering his own question. But Voluck was relieved when Gold said a life sentence would be too harsh and imposed four 15-month sentences to run concurrently, with 75 months of probation to follow. He gets credit for 21 days of time served.
"The psychiatrist testified that these were acts of immaturity, not of a predator," said Voluck, noting that Strawser was 15 at the time of the molestations. The victims' families disputed that, saying the molestations took place when he was four months shy of his 17th birthday. The girls were between the ages of 7 and 10 at the time.
"I know the judge anguished over this decision," Voluck said.
Strawser's father, Devlin Strawser, said he was grateful for the judge's mercy.
"This young man has, other than this, done nothing in his life to break the law in any way," he said. "My son is very remorseful, and my family, for all that has transpired."
Strawser's mother, Lisa Strawser, was sobbing outside the courtroom at the thought of her son spending more than a year in prison.
"He never wanted to hurt any of them," she said. "He tries to be honest, and this is what happens. All he wanted to do was go to college."
One victim's father was unimpressed. "I was molested as a child," he said. "It was 37 years ago. Nothing ever happened to the guy."
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4207.
