KINGMAN, Ariz. – Judge Billy Sipe imposed the maximum punishment he could under terms of a plea agreement, but expressed reservation about its restrictions and the resolution of what he said could have been a child abduction event in Lake Havasu City.
Sipe placed Richard Hunter, 69, Lake Havasu, on probation for four years and ordered a one-year Adult Detention Center sentence during a Nov. 2 hearing at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center in Kingman.
Hunter pleaded guilty to attempted custodial interference for trying to coax a seven-year-old girl into his vehicle when her siblings and mother were inside a local laundromat at 121 Lake Havasu Ave. on July 16. Police and deputy county attorney Rod Albright said the child gained protection by locking herself in the cab of her mother’s pickup truck after Hunter urged her to “come on, get in, let’s go,” before he drove away.
Hunter is convicted of attempted custodial interference, though Judge Sipe suggested there’s merit to a more serious conviction.
“This appears to be an attempted child kidnapping,” Sipe said. “This has to be every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Public Defender Ross Carponelli said Hunter, prior to the instant offense, had a spotless criminal history – not even a traffic ticket. He asked Sipe to set Hunter free after 109 days spent in custody, contending the court has the hammer to send him to prison if he violates probation.
“I just want to go back to work and pay off my fines and become a productive citizen,” Hunter said.
Sipe noted he could reject the punishment limitations of the plea agreement, but lamented that many plea deals he rejects frequently get approved by his bench colleagues, sometimes involving even less punitive measures.
Sipe told Hunter he should be released to serve probation by mid-July next year.
