Two men accused of raping a 14-year-old girl, who was in and out of consciousness at the time, and another man charged with videotaping the sexual assault were sentenced Wednesday in a Utah courtroom to 48 months of probation.
Third District Judge Douglas Hogan sentenced each man on March 9 to between one and 15 years in Utah State Prison but suspended the incarceration sentences in lieu of probation, KSL.com reported. All three men have been behind bars since the September of 2017 sexual assault back when the initial charges were filed.
The probation came as a reduction of the men's original sentence, ABC4 Utah reported. Following plea deals with law enforcement, the men's prison sentences were replaced after the three were incarcerated for three-and-a-half years.
When handing down the sentences, Hogan noted the substantial amount of time that has passed since the charges were filed, blaming part of the delay on the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the lawyers involved had "done an extraordinary job" at litigating the case and balancing each side's concerns.
26-year-old Richard Djassera, of Murray; 29-year-old Leclair "LA" Dodjim, of Murray; and 24-year-old Nasouh Albasis-Albasis, of West Valley City, were each first charged with two counts of felony first-degree aggravated sexual assault.
Djassera was also charged with an additional four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, according to KSL.com's report.
Law enforcement officials had identified Djassera and Dodjim as brothers. Djassera admitted to filming Donjim and "Dojim's friend" forcing themselves onto the victim because he "thought it was funny," ABC4 Utah reported.
Under a plea deal, Djassera pleaded guilty to felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, after attorneys had argued there was no evidence that he had sex with the victim. Meanwhile, both Leclair and Albasis pleaded guilty to a reduced count of felony second-degree rape, KSL.com reported.
According to police, the teenage victim sneaked out of a sleepover at a friend's house to meet up with the three men on Sept. 8, 2017, as arranged on Snapchat.
She was taken by the defendants to multiple parties where she became intoxicated after "drinking shots," the charging documents say. Two of the men then raped the drunk minor while she lost and regained consciousness in the back seat of a car, and the third man recorded the rape on video, West Jordan police reported.
Investigators found at least four videos of the girl's sexual assault. In the footage, authorities observed the teenager appearing to be "incoherent and making weak attempts to stop the assault," charging documents state, according to KSL.com.
"At no time in the video does (the girl) appear capable of giving consent, given her obvious level of impairment," investigators wrote in the court documents. Police said voices can also be heard on the recordings "encouraging the assault."
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will address the immigration status of two of the men before they're set to begin probation. While all three were ordered to be released from jail, Djassera and Leclair will be under ICE custody.
A hearing was set for the three men in June to address restitution and probation.
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