A 21 year old Albion man has pleaded guilty to raping an underage girl multiple times.
Lionardo Rojas Jr. pleaded guilty to four counts of 3rd degree child rape in Whitman County Superior Court Friday morning. Rojas was first arrested for raping a 15 year old girl in May. While on pretrial release in that case Rojas was arrested again for continuing to rape the same girl and for giving her drugs. During that release he also stole several items from an Albion man and tried to sell the property. Rojas pleaded guilty in that case last week and was sentenced to 9 months in jail.
Both the prosecution and the defense are asking Judge Roger Sandberg for a Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative. If Rojas qualifies for the special sentence and the court agrees it would require treatment instead of additional time in custody. Judge Sandberg made it very clear to Rojas on Friday that he doesn’t have to go along with the sentencing alternative and could send him to prison for 5 years.
Rojas is set to be sentenced on October 9th. He remains in the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office Jail in Colfax. The prosecutor informed the court that the victim no longer wants to have anything to do with Rojas. The prosecution dropped additional counts in return for the guilty pleas.
