He’s also required to register as a sex offender for life.
Frederick, Md (KM) A Frederick man will be spending a long time in prison in a child sexual abuse case. In Frederick County Circuit Court on Monday, Isaac Benjamin Rodriguez, 24, was sentenced to life, with all but 30 years suspended. Rodriguez needs to serve 15 years of that sentence before he’s eligible for parole.
“And he’s also put on a maximum of period of supervised probation, which is five years. Once he gets out of serving that sentence, he must register as a sex offender for life. So we were very, very happy with the outcome,” says State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.
Rodriguez was arrested on January 16th, 2018 following an investigation by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office. “He wound up being charged with multiple offenses for sexually abusing a minor child over a two-year period. So obviously that’s very troubling,” says Smith.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty on December 13th, 2018 to sexual abuse of a minor, and 2nd-degree rape–actually fellatio–according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
This plea, says Smith, saves the victim from testifying in a trial in open court. “It’s bad enough that they have to live this hell, in this case in two years. But it’s worse when they have to take the stand, believe it or not,” he says. “It’s very troubling for them to have to relive it. We take every measure possible for that not to occur.”
Smith also says his office takes a dim view of child sexual predators. “We’re very, very, very harsh on child sex abuse cases in Frederick County. We’re very fortunate to have the backing of the bench on these cases. We seek very stiff penalties,” he says.
Gouge
A Mount Airy man involved in a domestic incident where he threatened to kill his girlfriend is going to prison. The Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office says Gary Michael Gouge, 35, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years incarceration for a first-degree assault offense, with all but five and a half years suspended.
That charge came from an incident on November 19th, 2017, where prosecutors Gouge was arrested for physically assaulting his girlfriend, strangling her, and pointing a gun to her head, threatening to shoot her. She managed to get away and get medical treatment at Frederick Memorial Hospital where police were contacted. Authorities say the victim had multiple injuries, including an imprint of the barrel of a gun on her forehead.
Gouge entered an Alford plea to 1st-degree assault in that case. Under an Alford plea, the defendant doesn’t admit guilt, but acknowledges the State has sufficient evidence for a conviction.
The State’s Attorney’s Office say Gouge was also sentenced to four and a half years in prison for violating his probation for a conviction of 2nd-degree assault for an incident which occurred in July, 2014. He also entered an Alford plea in that case.
That brings his sentence to a total of ten years behind bars. These two sentences will be served consecutively.
By Kevin McManus