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A former West Virginia college student is sentenced to prison for raping an Ohio University student
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A former West Virginia college student convicted of raping an Ohio University student was sentenced Tuesday to a minimum of eight years in prison.
“No means no,” Athens County Judge Patrick Lang said before issuing the sentence. “It really is that simple.”
The victim also addressed her attacker. What happened, she said, “was a violation — not a misunderstanding, not a mistake, not a story.”
“You tried to call this consent,” she said. “It was rape.”
(WOUB, like many news organizations, does not publish the names of rape victims.)
An Ohio University student who had been in contact with Sagastume through social media platforms invited him to her apartment.
It was there in her bedroom that he forced himself on her and covered her mouth with his hand as she cried, Athens County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Liz Pepper said at the sentencing hearing.
A jury found Sagastume guilty of rape following a trial earlier this month.
Lang noted that many people — family, friends, teammates, members of the clergy and others — had written letters in support of Sagastume. The general theme of these letters, the judge said, “is that Mr. Sagastume has a lot to offer the world.”
Lang told Sagastume just before announcing the sentence that when he walks out of prison he will still be a young man with the potential to live a productive life. Sagastume had plans for a career in dentistry.
Pepper acknowledged the letters of support, but noted that “those people were not in the room when this rape occurred.” There are no mitigating factors to make rape acceptable, she said.
The victim’s father spoke at the hearing, saying the crime had altered the course of his daughter’s life. “Ordinary situations that once felt normal now feel threatening,” he said.
He and his wife, he said, must now “live with the guilt of knowing we cannot protect her.”
The victim told Sagastume she suffers from recurring nightmares, that she has seen a psychiatrist and was put on medication.
“What you did did not stay in that room,” she said. “It changed the way I move through the world and how I conduct myself in it.”
She criticized what she characterized as the defense strategy at trial of trying to shift responsibility away from Sagastume and onto her.
“You spent this trial trying to avoid accountability,” she said. “Today accountability stands in front of you.”
Sagastume’s attorney, Katherine Clark, said her client was a good candidate for the minimum sentence for rape, which is three years.
He has no prior criminal record, he cooperated with police throughout the investigation, and he apologized for what happened, Clark said.
Sagastume and the victim were clearly involved in some kind of relationship, Clark said. And while the victim may have been impacted by what happened, she said, “the evidence shows that she did not stop living her life.”
For his part, Sagastume told the judge: “I have nothing to hide. I didn’t have anything to hide, and I still don’t.”
Lang said that whatever relationship Sagastume and his victim shared, it does not excuse what happened. When someone does not consent to sex, he said, “that doesn’t mean to negotiate and see how far you can push things.”
Looking at Sagastume, Lang said: “You are being punished for the choices you made.”