The California businessman pleaded no contest to statutory rape of a 5-year-old girl. According to KTXL, he will not be required to register as a sex offender.
Seventy-nine-year-old Lyle Burgess will spend 90 days on house arrest and five years on probation.
The California businessman pleaded no contest to statutory rape of a 5-year-old girl in 2016. According to KTXL, he will not be required to register as a sex offender.
“A 5-6-year-old little girl was molested. Normally, the sentence is state prison and then when you’re released, you have to register as a sex offender,” family attorney Ken Meleyco told KTXL.
KTXL attempted to contact Deputy District Attorney Kathy Murray to learn why Burgess was only charged with statutory rape and why he would not be required to register as a sex offender.
Their attempts were not successful.
Meleyco said Burgess is very wealthy.
“It’s just an example of how the wealthy people, time and time again, escape the penalty for what they did,” Meleyco told KTXL.
The victim and her family have filed a civil suit against Burgess. Even so, Meleyco said the girl, now 7 years old, is not doing well.
“She’s showing all the symptoms of somebody who’s been molested. She’s in counseling, and she’s going to be in counseling all her life,” he told KTXL.
Source: Man pleads no contest to 5-year-old girl’s rape, sentenced to 90 days of house arrest
