- April 18, 2024
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A man convicted of raping his 13-year-old step-daughter has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison.
Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman sentenced Waldemar Rivera to a 25-year-term, minus 311 days he has already served, during an April 26 sentencing hearing.
No witnesses spoke on Rivera's behalf.
Assistant State Attorney Christina Opsahl argued for a 30-year-sentence, noting that Rivera, now 36, had raised the victim since she was 3. He'd also been arrested on charges of battery, disorderly conduct and driving under the influence in the past, had few local ties and had spoken of moving to his native Puerto Rico if he were placed on probation.
"There’s not a day less than 30 years that would be an appropriate sentence," she said. "There are significant other aggravators here. ... This charge itself includes an age range. It is for a victim 12 to 18 years old. The victim in this case was 13. ... (Rivera) didn’t just come into her life, he had raised her as his own since she was 3 years old. She called him dad."
The attack occurred May 11, 2014. Rivera gave the victim beer and marijuana before attacking her, Opsahl said, something that indicated that Rivera was trying to get the girl impaired and that the rape was therefore premeditated.
"Mr. Rivera knew exactly what he was doing that day," she said.
Regina Nunnally, Rivera's attorney, said that a psychosexual evaluation found that Rivera "did not exhibit signs of sexual deviancy" because he didn't show signs of attraction to prepubescent children, or compulsive sexual behavior.
"We did not see the repeated, compulsive acts that would come from someone we would consider a danger to society," she said.
She said the fact that Rivera had given his stepdaughter booze and marijuana before the attack didn't indicate premeditation, just poor decision-making.
She asked the judge for 10 years in prison and 10 years of probation.
Foxman noted before issuing his sentence that victims who were raped by their caretakers "develop tremendous trust issues in life, and really, really bad intimacy issues of a great depth. ... some of them never recover."
"Make no mistake about it sir, you’ve created a lifetime victim," he said to Rivera.
He ordered Rivera to register as a sexual predator within 24 hours of his release, noting that the usual timeframe is 48.
Rivera declined to make a statement at the sentencing hearing. A jury had found him guilty March 23 of sexual battery by a person of custodial authority.
