An upstate New York cop has been sentenced to serve just ten weekends in jail after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl.
Shawn Jordan, a 40-year-old former Rochester police officer, had the shockingly light sentence handed to him on Wednesday after making a plea deal concerning the 2022 rape of a South Bristol teen, WHEC reported.
He will also be on probation for ten years and registered as a sex offender.
The mother of the victim “begged” Ontario County Judge Kristina Karle to send her now-15-year-old daughter’s rapist to prison, but Karle refused.
Ontario County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford acknowledged that Jordan’s sentence is weak but justified the decision by pointing out that the girl will not have to relive the trauma by testifying in a courtroom.
“I’m not entirely satisfied with the sentence … but, ultimately, as a prosecutor, I have to weigh things like the impact of actually having to testify on the victim of this crime,” Wolford said. “And she’s a child, and she was going to have to face her accuser in the courtroom. And when I was given the opportunity to consider whether or not we’d take a guilty plea — absolutely, all day, in a circumstance like this.”
“I’m thankful that it’s over for the victim and her family, who were here today in court. It’s been a long process to get to this point but, ultimately, just thankful they can move on and start to heal,” the prosecutor added, according to the local outlet.
Jordan has reportedly been bragging about receiving such a lenient punishment for his heinous crime.
“We had heard from members of the community that he had indicated that he had ‘gotten off’ on these charges, and that is not unusual for us to hear,” Wolford said. “Unfortunately, people say those things. But it’s concerning if it is [true].”
In a statement in the courtroom on Wednesday, the victim’s mother said Jordan’s crime ruined her daughter’s life and that he “doesn’t deserve to be out on the street,” 13WHAM reported.
The disgraced cop is facing more legal trouble from being charged in a separate case in March 2023, six months before his arrest for the rape case.
In the other case, prosecutors accuse Jordan of exposing his genitals to another underage victim on a video call, which is what ultimately led to his resignation from the Rochester Police Department.
While he could end up in prison for those charges, a court date has not yet been scheduled.