UPDATE on this CASE
Thaying Lor is lead into court for sentencing.
Close A Milwaukee man convicted of sexually assaulting his wife, who was 12 when he abducted her into a Hmong cultural marriage in 1991, was sentenced Monday to at least eight years in prison.
The case of Thaying Lor, 43, drew nationwide attention among Hmong-Americans, who feared it could lead to unfair judgment of their culture and an upsurge in Hmong wives making similar claims years after their weddings.
Circuit Judge Kevin Martens, who presided at Lor's
weeklong trial in December, called it one of the most difficult he'd seen, "given the number of issues I'm asked to consider on both sides."
Prosecutors and advocates for victims of domestic violence sought much tougher punishment, while Lor's counsel and Hmong-American groups and individuals who sent dozens of letters recommended probation.
The case began when a bailiff overheard the victim testify in her divorce early last year about how she was kidnapped, raped and essentially sold into marriage at age 12. The victim never wanted to involve police out of respect for the Hmong culture, but the bailiff alerted law enforcement and Lor was charged 10 days later.
The woman, now 32, has a different last name than Lor and is not being identified because she is the victim of a sexual assault. She remains in the Milwaukee area, where she is raising the couple's six children.
In a letter to Martens, she said she did not feel safe appearing in person because she and her family have been subjected to ridicule, ostracism and threats, including on Hmong radio stations.
"They have threatened to hunt me down like a squirrel in the woods," she wrote.
She asked that he sentence Lor to prison as a message to other abused Hmong women who lack the courage to come forward.
Martens spoke for 90 minutes Monday before announcing the sentence. He stressed repeatedly that case should not be seen as only "the Hmong marriage" case, but considered for Lor's specific behavior.
"It would be wrong for anyone to take this as an indictment of the Hmong community as a whole," he said.
The victim
testified at trial that she came here from Laos in 1989. Two years later, when she was 12, Lor used the promise of a trip to the mall to lure her to a house where she was essentially kidnapped and raped. Later, they were wed at a Hmong marriage ceremony after negotiations among their family members. Her mother testified at Lor's trial that the girl's parents accepted a $3,000 dowry.
Lor's wife began having children while still in middle school, and Martens called it stunning that no intervention or referrals were done then.
"It's clear one or more people neglected their responsibilities," he said.
Martens noted that when Lor met his wife, both had been in the U.S. only about two years and marriage of such young girls was common in the old country. He also took into account that Lor had no other criminal record, provided for his family and was not a "quintessential predator."
But by 2005 and 2007, when Lor forcibly raped his wife and attempted to, ignorance of American law or custom could no longer be considered a mitigating factor, Martens said.
Lor was convicted of six charges, four under older state law and two under current law. For the initial assault, in 1991 when the victim was 12, Martens sentenced Lor to eight years. He would have to serve a minimum of two years before being considered for parole. He would have to be paroled after serving two-thirds of the sentence.
For sexual assaults that led to the birth of the couple's first three children, Martens imposed probation.
For a second-degree sexual assault in 2005, Lor was sentenced to four years, followed by eight years of extended supervision. For an attempted assault in 2007, he was given two years in prison plus four years of extended supervision. All the prison terms were consecutive, and Lor was given credit for 466 days he's been in jail since his arrest.
Lor's attorney, Benjamin Gallagher of St. Paul, Minn., said they planned to request a new trial and appeal if Martens denies the request.
Credit to JSMilwaukee news....http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/97313064.html