Wilton man sentenced to 12 years for gross sexual assault

FARMINGTON – A Wilton man was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison Thursday, having previously pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault in Franklin County Superior Court.

Lance Woodbury, 40 of Wilton, pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault, a Class A felony, as well as misdemeanor assault, part of a separate but related case, on March 9. Today, Woodbury was sentenced to 12 years in prison on a 20-year, partially-suspended sentence.

The case stems from a Department of Health and Human Services referral to the Jay Police Department regarding a 12-year-old girl. Wilton Police Department became involved after it became evident that the alleged criminal activity occurred at a Wilton residence. According to court documents, the gross sexual assault charge relates to an incident that occurred on April 22, 2016 in which Woodbury reportedly had intercourse with the victim. Woodbury was arrested in May 2016 and indicted by the Franklin County grand jury in August 2016.

The misdemeanor assault charge relates to an incident that occurred at the Franklin County Detention Center on March 7, in which Woodbury assaulted another man who was considered a witness in the gross sexual assault case.

The terms of the arranged plea included a 20-year prison sentence, with a 12-year cap on the unsuspended portion of the sentence. The sentence also includes six years of probation following Woodbury’s release.

In court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Claire Andrews argued for the maximum, 12-year sentence. Woodbury had known the victim was particularly vulnerable, Andrews said, with the girl receiving treatment prior to April 22, 2016. Woodbury had initially told investigators that the victim had been the aggressor, Andrews said, and claimed he had consent despite the age of the victim.

Only after Woodbury had failed a polygraph test, Andrews said, had he admitted to having sex with the victim. Woodbury also bragged to jail inmates about having sex with the victim.

Andrews said that other aggravating factors that should impact Woodbury’s sentencing included a lengthy criminal record that went back to 1996 and included felony theft, terrorizing, criminal trespass and multiple counts of operating under the influence.

While the gross sexual assault consisted of two incidents in a single night, Andrews said, the impact on the victim had been profound. In her victim impact statement, the victim told the court that she was having difficulty sleeping, was scared of the dark and had stopped going to friends’ houses.

“That one night has drastically changed this child’s life,” Andrews said.

Woodbury’s attorney, George Hess, argued for an 8-year unsuspended sentence. The crime had not involved repeated incidents or “grooming,” a practice in which someone gains the trust of a potential victim over time, or coercion or force, Hess said. A report prepared by a forensic psychologist indicated that risks associated with Woodbury’s release could be mitigated. Woodbury also had no prior history of committing sex crimes.

“I believe that a 12-year sentence is too high,” Hess said. He provided to the court, as part of the defense’s sentencing memorandum, with other cases that he said were comparable to the Woodbury case in which the defendant received a sentence less than 12 years.

Justice Robert Mullen sentenced Woodbury to 12 years, as part of the partially-suspended 20-year sentence. Saying that the crime fell on the “more heinous side” of the gross sexual assault continuum, Mullen said that Woodbury had yet to demonstrate true remorse and that the aggravating factors of Woodbury’s criminal record, the victim impact and the assault that occurred in jail as the case was pending, outweighed the mitigating factors, which Mullen characterized as “pretty much lacking.”

“Frankly, I think 12 years is on the generous side,” Mullen said, although he noted that he understood the state’s desire to reach an arranged plea that spared the victim from having to testify in open court.

Upon his release, Woodbury will be on probation for six years, during which time he is to undergo counseling, have no contact with children under the age of 18, with the exception of being able to write letters to his sons, and no contact with the victim. He will have to register with the state in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration & Notification Act, for life.

Woodbury was also sentenced to six months, concurrent to the longer sentence, for the assault conviction.

Mullen also addressed the victim, sitting in the back of the courtroom. “Thank you Ms. [the victim] for coming,” Mullen said. “I hope it’s not too late for you to be a kid.”