US: Rape survivor rejects judge's offer of $150000 compensation

When a Louisiana judge asked a rape survivor to accept compensation of $150000 so as to reduce the 12-year sentence of the convict, she refused. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore explained to the media that the proposal posed by State District Judge Bruce Bennett surprised the district attorney's office. Even Benett's associate attorney was surprised, he added. Speaking on the judge's proposal, Moore said that it was an unusual gesture. As far as Moore guessed the judge's intent, he might be seeking to provide some sort of assistance to the lady. 

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The victim refused to accept the offer on Thursday, informed Moore. She was 15 years old when Sedrick Hills, 45, raped her. After DNA evidence surfaced and connected him to the 2003 rape, Hills was charged in 2014 and convicted in 2018. He was found guilty of forcible rape and an incest crime.

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The victim wants the convict to face jail time

Her advocate said that the victim who is now 31-year-old feels that her life has been like a horror movie. She felt angry, tired and has been fighting it for half of her life. Events like what happened to her deteriorate a person, she said. That is why she would want the man to serve his jail time and not accept money. She said money is not going to provide any restitution for what he's done at Thursday's court hearing. She wanted the man to serve time for the time she felt he had taken away from her in the aftermath of her rape.

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Not an 'extortionary offer': Judge

The judge who retired in 2015 is filling in the 19th Judicial District Court seat since it became vacant when Judge Todd Hernandez retired in March with a year and nine months still left in his six-year term. Speaking on the offer he made in the case, he said it wasn't an extortionary offer. Bennett wrote in his judgment that the pre-sentence investigation hinted that Hills had been injured in a "big truck" accident that gave him injuries. Though he wasn't aware if there was a civil case pending for the accident, he thought it seemed unfair for Hills to emerge from prison with a windfall while the victim has received no compensation for her emotional injuries sustained as a result of the crimes. Moreover, the time period in which Hills was to be sued had also experts as per Louisiana's statute of limitations. The money is at least partially empowered to control her own economic destiny and receive compensation for this reprehensible and life-changing action, he wrote.

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