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10-Day Probation Sentence For Sex With 12-Year-Old Angers Victim's Mom
POSTED: 12:29 PM EDT May 14, 2004
SANFORD, Fla. -- A man who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 12-year-old received a penalty much lighter than usual -- 10 days of sex-offender probation -- angering the girl's mother.
Mark Vansandt, 22, of Longwood also was sentenced to four years of conventional probation on an unrelated cocaine charge.
Vansandt pleaded guilty in October to having sex with the girl at his home in August 2002.
Under state sentencing guidelines, Vansandt faced a combined prison sentence of eight to 20 years in the sex and cocaine cases.
But state law allows judges to sharply reduce the penalty against young offenders, and that's what Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr. did Monday.
Eaton said Vansandt "is not a pedophile. He's not a rapist. He's not a violent sex offender," but was an extremely immature man. Vansandt was 20 when he had sex with the girl.
The victim's mother called the sentence "a joke."
"I believe he should spend some time in prison," she said. Her name is being withheld to protect her daughter's identity. "I'm really shocked that the judge is sending out this message to other young men that it's OK to have sex with a 12-year-old, and he'll give you a little slap on the wrist."
Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey said he'd never heard of a defendant being placed on sex-offender probation for just 10 days.
A defendant placed on sex-offender probation has fewer freedoms than someone on conventional probation. He gets more visits from his probation officer, he must get counseling, he must keep a driving log and he cannot leave home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Vansandt's attorney, F. Wesley "Buck" Blankner Jr., said the judge was trying to both follow the law and be fair to Vansandt. He called his client "a decent guy."
Despite the short sentence, Vansandt will be permanently identified as a sex offender on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Web site.
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