15 year old Muskegon boy sentenced to 20-57 years for rape of 19 year old woman

15 year old Teddius Patterson, of Muskegon, MI, was sentenced to a term of 20 to 57 years today for the burglary and rape of a 19 year old woman last summer. Patterson, who had an extensive juvenile criminal record, was 14 at the time of the rape and burglary. He was found guilty by a judge in a bench trial earlier this month.

Patterson's sentence breaks down as follows - 18 to 55 years for 1st degree criminal sexual conduct; 8 to 20 years for 1st degree home invasion; 2 to 5 years for firearm theft, and a year each for two firearm posession counts. All sentences except the firearm posession counts will be served concurrently.

The attack happened the night of June 22 in the Margaret Street apartment of a 19-year-old woman. Patterson was 14 at the time, out on bond facing juvenile charges for an earlier break-in of an elderly woman’s home while she slept. He already had a record of juvenile convictions for arson and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.

In testimony at Patterson’s trial and at an earlier probable-cause hearing, the victim told of being sexually groped by a young stranger she confronted in her apartment — then trying to shoot him dead with her husband’s loaded handgun, only to have the invader wrest the gun away and point it at her, repeating the sexual assault with his hand.

Patterson’s 48-year-old mother, who has spent much of her son’s life in prison for drug offenses and felonious assault and was most recently released in March 2008, wrote a letter to the judge pleading for mercy for Teddius and taking the blame on herself for his bad conduct. The boy was raised by his grandparents.

Senior Assistant Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson asked for a long sentence for Patterson, citing the lack of remorse and that Patterson believed his confession was a lie. The attack, according to Hilson, was “an extremely traumatic event (for the victim). ... Every sound that happens in her home (now) causes her concern. Not only was the security of her home violated, but her own personal body was violated. It is only by the grace of God that she is not dead today."

14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti said about the attack, “(This) is probably every woman’s nightmare...It leaves a very, very bad taste in this community’s mouth, a very bad taste in my mouth. This is devastating to this community, and particularly devastating to the victim." Because of previous felony convictions, "at some point I have to shift my focus from rehabilitating you ... to protecting the community."