A Batavia teenager who admitted to raping a 15-year-old girl in his home on Feb. 16 is fortunate he can't receive a lengthier prison sentence than he received today, according to District Attorney Lawrence Friedman.
Friedman told Judge Robert Noonan prior to the sentencing of Oliver Thomas, 17, that the DA's office accepted a plea to rape in the third degree only after Thomas' friends lied about the incident and if the case went to trial, the People would have been relying primarily on the testimony of the victim.
After Thomas plead guilty to rape in the third degree, during the Genesee Justice probation investigation, Thomas admitted that he did in fact forcibly rape the girl.
Thomas was originally charged with rape in the first degree.
"He is very fortunate that he saved his admission until after his plea," Friedman said. "We would never have given him the plea and he would be facing a lengthy mandatory determinant sentence."
Judge Noonan agreed that he likely would have given Thomas the maximum sentence for what he described as a "very violent felony" against a "very young victim."
Thomas received an indeterminate sentence (meaning he can receive credit for good behavior and showing he's been rehabilitated) of one-and-a-third to four years in state prison.
