The three Muslim refugee boys who plead guilty to the heinous sexual assault of a five-year-old girl in Idaho received no jail time in their sentencing yesterday (Tuesday), according to Pamela Geller, President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). The judge barred everyone in the courtroom, including the victim’s own parents, from speaking about the case and threatened anyone with serious consequences if they violated his directive, Geller reported.
The rape occurred at Fawnbrook Apartments, in Twin Falls, when the three Muslims lured a 5-year-old girl into a laundry room and there committed upon her the most infamous acts of cruelty and barbarism, while the oldest boy filmed the entire incident.
Following a sentencing hearing Monday at the Snake River Juvenile Detention Center in Twin Falls, Judge Thomas Borresen of Idaho’s 5th Judicial District issued a gag order barring those present in the courtroom from discussing it.
Geller says that the victim’s lawyer is facing contempt charges because of a benign comment he made to the Idaho Statesman about the parents’ unhappiness with the verdict.
WorldNetDaily consulted with Mathew Staver, chairman and co-founder of the nonprofit legal assistance agency Liberty Counsel, about the legality of issuing such a gag order after the fact in a criminal case: “It’s unconstitutional for the judge to do that. There are gag orders that can be put on people during a jury trial, or if it’s a minor they can prohibit you from mentioning the name of the minor, but they can’t gag you after the fact,” Staver said. “This is public at this point. This judge, it just seems like he’s forgotten about the First Amendment in this case. He has no authority to do this, he can’t hold someone in contempt to keep them from speaking out about their displeasure with the case after the fact.”
Staver said case law is clear on the subject of gag orders.
"The travesty of justice in Idaho is now complete," wrote Geller. "In the summer of 2016, a 5-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and urinated upon by three Muslim migrant boys in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, instead of getting justice, the victim’s family has been abused by law enforcement and governing authorities as if they were the criminals – because what happened to their little girl contradicts the politically correct narrative about Muslim migrants. On Monday, the perpetrators were sentenced, and the final injustice was done to this poor girl.
"The injustice began in the proceedings at the Snake River Juvenile Detention Center in Twin Falls when Judge Thomas Borreson of Idaho’s 5th Judicial District ordered the little victim’s parents to say nothing to anyone – ever – about what was said in the courtroom Monday, or to disclose the sentence he gave to the savage attackers. He did allow them to say that they were unhappy with the sentencing, but threatened to jail them for contempt of court if they disclosed why they were unhappy with it.
"But even though the victim’s parents were not allowed to talk to me, there were 12 to 15 people in the courtroom who saw and heard the whole sorry business. I was informed of what happened by an anonymous source inside the courtroom – and the more I heard, the more I understood why this judge wanted to keep all the proceedings secret.
"Janice Kroeger, the senior deputy prosecuting attorney, who was supposed to be trying these boys for their crimes, defended the boys and repeatedly attacked Lacy, the victim’s mother. A therapist for the boys was present, as well as a parole officer and a detective. Everything that was said was designed to portray the perpetrators as victims. Throughout the proceedings, they were repeatedly called victims, and the youngest one was called 'the biggest victim of them all.'
"The court heard all about how the attackers are doing well in school, and about how smart they are. They were praised for the supposed ordeal they had to go through. It was claimed that all three are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from having to go through courtroom proceedings.
"After this lovefest, which lasted for five hours in the courtroom, all three boys were sentenced, one after the other. All three were given probation. They were not found guilty of rape, but of sexually lewd conduct.
"In the midst of this judicial mugging, every time Lacy’s lawyer tried to speak up, he was silenced. The little victim, Jayla, was never even mentioned once by Kroeger or the judge – or by the police or anyone else. Only Lacy mentioned her, when she made her statement. Lacy detailed how the poor girl is still suffering the effects of this attack...
"Yet when Lacy completed her statement, Kroeger lashed out not at the perpetrators or their parents, but at Lacy. She viciously tongue-lashed Lacy for a full 15 minutes, until finally Judge Borreson had to stop her.
"Understandably, the parents of the victim were and are devastated. Back in April, when the attackers initially pleaded guilty, Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said: 'I am pleased that we were able to resolve this case in a way that was approved and agreed to by the victim’s family. This continues to be a serious and sad case, but it was resolved properly.'
"Nothing could be further from the truth. The resolution of the case was not accepted by the victim’s family, and it was not resolved properly.
"From the beginning to the end, for Idaho officials this case was about one thing, and one thing only: not justice for this poor little girl who was brutalized and abused, but about making sure that Americans don’t start to realize what is happening and oppose the Muslim migrant influx. Idaho officials were willing to sacrifice this girl’s well-being for that goal – to their everlasting shame," wrote Pamela Geller.