Luis Urias-Gonzales
KINGMAN -A local judge expressed extreme reluctance before he approved a plea agreement that he said is far too lenient for a man accused of sex offenses involving two young girls at various residences in Bullhead City and Kingman for years.
Eight charges are dismissed in the deal that convicts Luis Urias-Gonzales, 42, of public sexual indecency and another charge reduced to attempted sexual conduct with a minor. Judge Billy Sipe said he is not satisfied by terms of the agreement requiring him to impose a minimum five-year prison term.
“Justice is not being done in this case,” Sipe said during the Dec. 12 sentencing hearing at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center in Kingman. He heaped criticism upon the County Attorney’s Office for resolving too many child sex offense cases too leniently.
“This is the kind of a case that not too long ago that the defendant would be serving decades, if not life in prison,” Sipe said.
Public Defender Paul Amann offered that five years in prison is better than the frequent no punishment result that occurs when many locally charged defendants are acquitted and walk free after evidence lacking “he said-she said” cases taken to trial. He also noted that the plea protects any victim from suffering trauma by testifying and sharing difficult experience in public.
The mother of the principal case victim said the young woman has contemplated suicide, lives in fear and sees a therapist. “She’s going to need help for the rest of her life,” the mother said, agreeing that it’s better that her daughter not be put through the rigors of trial.
The victim gains protection from a life-long no contact order. Urias-Gonzales must register as a sex offender and serve life-long probation upon release, never be in the presence of anyone under the age of 18 and never drink alcohol.
The newly-imposed prison sentence will begin once Urias-Gonzales completes the separate, near year-long prison term he’s currently serving for unrelated convictions for driving under the influence and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Dave Hawkins
