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WisconsinLawmakersOutragedAfterEx.pdf
Wisconsin Lawmakers Outraged After Ex-Student Gets ‘Lenient’ Sentence for Sex Crimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/alec-cook-wisconsin-sexual-assault.ht ml?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCriminal%20Sentences&action=click&conte ntCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&c ontentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
Six Wisconsin lawmakers this week condemned what they said was a lenient
three-year prison sentence given to a former University of Wisconsin student
who admitted to sexually assaulting three women and choking or stalking two
others.
The student, Alec Cook, 22, was initially charged with 23 crimes involving 11
female accusers, after the women began coming forward in 2016. In February, Mr. Cook pleaded guilty to five of those crimes — three counts of third-degree
sexual assault, one count of strangulation and one count of stalking,
collectively involving five different women — as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to 19½ years in prison; Mr.
Cook’s lawyers had recommended eight years of probation.
On June 21, the judge, Stephen Ehlke of Dane County Circuit Court, sentenced
Mr. Cook to three years in prison, followed by five years of extended
supervision and three years of probation. He also ordered Mr. Cook to register
as a sex offender until he reaches age 48, one of Mr. Cook’s lawyers said.
The sentence prompted a widespread backlash from students, Wisconsin
residents and lawmakers — many of whom saw troubling parallels between
Judge Ehlke’s decision and a six-month sentence handed down by a California judge to a Stanford student for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
“Your lenient sentence amounts to a slap on the wrist for a serial rapist whose
violent and sadistic sex crimes will haunt his victims for years to come,” six
state and local officials, all women, wrote to Judge Ehlke in a letter on
Tuesday. “In just three or fewer years, this predator will be back on the streets
because men like Alec Cook, men with privilege, are above the law.”
“When brave women come forward yet do not receive justice, it discourages
future victims from reporting,” they continued.
Judge Ehlke’s wife, Rachelle Weber, said Wednesday night that her husband
was recovering from surgery and would not be available for comment.
But during the sentencing, Judge Ehlke, a former prosecutor, insisted that he
had listened carefully to the victims and had tried to be fair by applying the
law “without regard to public pressure.” He said he was required to give Mr.
Cook credit for having no criminal record, for not violating the terms of his
bail and for having pleaded guilty.
The state’s recommendation of a roughly 19-year prison sentence, he added,
“is out of line for what is normally recommended for other similarly serious
cases.”
The judge’s voice shook as he addressed one of the victims. “Please, continue
to be kind — I’m sorry — and positive,” he said. “And don’t let him take that
from you.”
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Jessa Nicholson Goetz, a lawyer for
Mr. Cook, referred a reporter to comments she made in court.
At the time of the sentencing, she said of Mr. Cook: “He stood up here, he took
responsibility. That says something about his character.”
For his part, Wisconsin’s attorney general, Brad Schimel, issued a statement after the sentencing expressing dismay that the prison sentence wasn’t longer. The prosecutors who handled the case could not be reached for
comment on Wednesday evening.
The state and local lawmakers who wrote the critical letter to Judge Ehlke also
sought a meeting with him.
But in a letter of response, William E. Hanrahan, the chief judge of Fifth
Judicial Administrative District in Wisconsin, said such a meeting would be “a
violation of the ethical responsibilities of the court.”
Judge Hanrahan encouraged the officials to examine transcripts of what was
said in court and scrutinize the terms of the plea bargain.
Afterward, he said, if they felt the judge had made an error, they should
contact the attorney general.
Mr. Cook, of Edina, Minn., a suburb of the Twin Cities, had been a student in
the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin, majoring in real estate
and land economics before he was arrested and charged in October 2016. At
the time, prosecutors in Dane County described Mr. Cook as a serial sexual
predator who targeted fellow college students.
The arrest came after one woman told her harrowing story to the authorities,
prompting others to follow suit. Several women would eventually describe
similar attacks: an innocent introduction, followed by an exchange of
messages, which led them to accompany Mr. Cook to his apartment, where
they said sexual encounters began as consensual but escalated to assault.
The sentencing included tearful remarks by one victim, and statements by
others, read by the judge and a mother of one of the victims.
“I am learning that it is O.K. to not be O.K., and that none of this is my fault,”
one victim said at the sentencing. “While Alec might have taken away some of
my power and my adventurous spirit, I hope that some day I will be ready to
take it back.”
Addressing his victims, Mr. Cook apologized. “I’m sorry, I was wrong,” he said
through tears. “You told the truth, and everybody should believe you. This is
my fault.”
From the beginning, the case sent shock waves through the university. Mr.
Cook was removed from classes and campus on an “emergency suspension”
immediately after criminal charges were filed, and was expelled in June 2017,
a university spokesman said Wednesday.
The sentencing controversy arose just weeks after Aaron Persky, a California
judge who was criticized for sentencing a Stanford student to just six months
in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, was recalled by voters. The recall stemmed from the case of Brock Turner, a former champion
swimmer for Stanford, who had faced up to 14 years in prison for three felony
counts.
