Jury selection for the trial of an accused child rapist was canceled this week after the defendant admitted to harming a minor living in his household. Richard Penn Jr. was scheduled to stand trial after a panel was chosen to hear his case.
Had his case gone to trial, Penn faced 10 counts of rape, child abuse, and unlawful sexual contact. Under the terms of the change-of-plea motion filed Oct. 10, he agreed to admit guilt to a single count of unlawful sexual contact linked to domestic violence.
Defense attorney Frederick Johnson asked the court to consider a sentence of 15 years once Penn’s plea was accepted. A change-of-plea hearing took place before Superior Court Judge Sigrid Tejo on Friday.
Johnson signaled his client’s change of heart two days after Tejo turned down a request to dismiss that came up during a pre-trial hearing. Both the lawyers from the Justice Department and the defense told Tejo they had no success locating the victim.
But the judge rebuffed the argument, saying that there were other witnesses identified and enough discovery conducted for the trial to proceed.
Penn was ordered to appear for sentencing on Dec. 4. The judge ordered the Superior Court Office of Probation and Parole to prepare a report the court will use to fashion a suitable sentence.
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