A California judge sentenced a man who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl with two years in a girls juvenile detention facility.
Los Angeles Judge Mario Barrera sentenced Hannah Tubbs, 26, to the girls facility because after he was captured, James Tubbs, 26, declared himself a transgender woman and wanted to be called Hannah, according to a Fox News report.
Tubbs, reportedly pleaded guilty to molesting the girl in a women’s bathroom, in 2014, two weeks before Tubbs became 18, the legal age of majority.
Prosecutors say Tubbs grabbed the 10-year-old by the throat after he walked into a Denny’s bathroom in 2014 and locked her in a stall. Tubbs then put his hand down the girl’s pants and sexually assaulted her. He only stopped because another person entered the restroom, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The assault went on until someone walked into the restroom and scared him off,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John McKinney said, according to a report in the publication “Women are Human”.
The molester was not caught until his DNA was reportedly entered into an Idaho database after he was arrested there, in 2019, on a suspected battery charge, Lt. Richard Ruiz of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau told the LA Times. Ruiz reportedly added Tubbs was previously alleged to have sexually assaulted a minor for which he was not prosecuted. The Times reported a review of court records substantiated that.
Prosecutors filed charges against Tubbs in early 2020, shortly after Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón assumed office. The reform-minded prosecutor has flatly refused to try juveniles as adults. He reportedly cites scientific studies showing adolescent brain development isn’t complete until 25. He reportedly believes young offenders can still be rehabilitated in juvenile custody, while they would only be hardened if sent to adult prisons.
Deputy District Attorney Shea Sanna said two years is the maximum sentence for any juvenile in the new program over the age of 25, according to Fox News.
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department reportedly offered to house the prisoner but the judge said his hands were tied by the prosecutor’s decision.
“I want to be clear,” Barrera reportedly said during the Thursday sentencing in a Lancaster, California courtroom, according to the LA Times. “The filing of a transfer motion is entirely within the discretion of the district attorney.”
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