CPR: You're doing it ALL WRONG
Court upholds 73-year-old's sentence
Husband received 18 years for crime against wife.
By PABLO ROS
Tribune Staff Writer
The 73-year-old man claimed he had been trying to help.
His wife had taken too much medication and become "mentally incapacitated," according to the facts of the case, when he decided to act.
The man, whom The Tribune is not naming to protect the identity of his victim, would later tell police he believed his 68-year-old wife had either died or was dying.
But the man did not call 911 or check her vital signs. He did not give her CPR, according to court documents.
Instead, he told police he tried to revive her by placing "his mouth and tongue on her anus," according to the facts of the case considered by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
In a unanimous decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed the man's 18-year prison sentence for criminal deviate conduct, a class B felony. The court of appeals judges wrote that the man's "character is that of an apparent longtime sexual predator who, in our view, presents a clear danger to those over whom he has some control."
The man's attorney, Mark Lenyo, argued that the sentence was too harsh because he is not a danger to others.
But the judges also wrote, "Even though (the man) believed that his wife was either dead or dying, he was indifferent to everything but the opportunity to do 'things' to his wife that she had specifically told him in the past not to do."
The man's criminal history dates back to at least 1962, when he was convicted of accosting a minor. In 1964, he was convicted of possessing and circulating obscene pictures. The appeals court documents also contain a reference to a charge of assault and battery with intent to gratify sexual desires, although the documents do not reveal the outcome of that case. As late as 2005, he was arrested in St. Joseph County for public indecency, jail records show; it was unclear whether he was ever charged in that case.
The incident involving his wife was in June 2007, and the man was sentenced in February.
At sentencing, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese considered other statements the defendant had made to police. In an earlier statement, he admitted to carrying out inappropriate acts with a granddaughter and his daughters when they were young.
In sentencing him, Frese reportedly said the man had acted in violation of a position of trust and that as a result the man's wife had suffered "devastation."
Husband received 18 years for crime against wife.
By PABLO ROS
Tribune Staff Writer
The 73-year-old man claimed he had been trying to help.
His wife had taken too much medication and become "mentally incapacitated," according to the facts of the case, when he decided to act.
The man, whom The Tribune is not naming to protect the identity of his victim, would later tell police he believed his 68-year-old wife had either died or was dying.
But the man did not call 911 or check her vital signs. He did not give her CPR, according to court documents.
Instead, he told police he tried to revive her by placing "his mouth and tongue on her anus," according to the facts of the case considered by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
In a unanimous decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed the man's 18-year prison sentence for criminal deviate conduct, a class B felony. The court of appeals judges wrote that the man's "character is that of an apparent longtime sexual predator who, in our view, presents a clear danger to those over whom he has some control."
The man's attorney, Mark Lenyo, argued that the sentence was too harsh because he is not a danger to others.
But the judges also wrote, "Even though (the man) believed that his wife was either dead or dying, he was indifferent to everything but the opportunity to do 'things' to his wife that she had specifically told him in the past not to do."
The man's criminal history dates back to at least 1962, when he was convicted of accosting a minor. In 1964, he was convicted of possessing and circulating obscene pictures. The appeals court documents also contain a reference to a charge of assault and battery with intent to gratify sexual desires, although the documents do not reveal the outcome of that case. As late as 2005, he was arrested in St. Joseph County for public indecency, jail records show; it was unclear whether he was ever charged in that case.
The incident involving his wife was in June 2007, and the man was sentenced in February.
At sentencing, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese considered other statements the defendant had made to police. In an earlier statement, he admitted to carrying out inappropriate acts with a granddaughter and his daughters when they were young.
In sentencing him, Frese reportedly said the man had acted in violation of a position of trust and that as a result the man's wife had suffered "devastation."