Neon Nettle – by Jay Greenberg
Two African migrants have been spared jail with a slap on the wrist from the judge after they were convicted of raping a child in Utah.
Richard Djasserambaye, 26, and Dodjim Leclair, 29, were given probation for raping an unconscious 14-year-old girl in West Jordan, Utah.
Two men walked free from court after being given probation by Third District Judge Douglas Hogan.
Djasserambaye and Leclair were convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl who was in and out of consciousness in 2017 after luring her to meet them on the social media app Snapchat.
A third suspect, 24-year-old Nasouh Albasis-Albasis, was also convicted for filming the rape.
However, despite the horrific nature of their premeditated crimes, the judge spared all three men from prison sentences.
Judge Hogan, who was appointed by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R), offered Djasserambaye, Leclair, and Albasis-Albasis plea bargains that allow them to escape prison sentences and serve just 48 months of probation.
However, after walking free from court, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picked up Djasserambaye and Leclair.
The two men are now both in the agency’s custody where they await an immigration hearing and possible deportation.
The pair arrived in the U.S. from the Central African Republic.
Their immigration status, how long they have been in the U.S., whether they arrived on visas or had overstayed visas, was also not revealed by ICE.
This is not the first time Judge Hogan has been caught up in a controversy over a child sex crime case, however.
In 2020, the judge triggered a fierce public backlash after giving a Utah tech CEO a light sentence for child pornography charges.
An online petition to remove Hogan garnished almost 10K signatures after his sentencing of Utah tech CEO Douglas Saltsman was perceived as light by many.
Saltsman received 210 days in jail and 48 months probation for possessing more than 13,000 files of graphic child pornography, some of which involved rape and bestiality.
The petition, hosted by change.org, asked to recall Hogan.
Cat Hoffman, who started this petition, called the sentencing an “antithesis of justice.”
Hoffman’s reasoning includes:
210 days in prison is all the Judge who handed this sentence down gave, 210 days.
There were 279 identified child victims yet Judge Hogan couldn’t even give each of those victims the justice of letting Saltsman sit in jail for one day for each victim.
210 days is all the exploitation and rape of children is deserving of according to Judge Hogan’s sentence.
I’m moving to petition to Recall Judge Hogan immediately.
This is not justice and these children deserve more from our justice system and the judge that handed down this sentence.