Man who slept with, pimped grown daughter out sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, 15 years sex offender probation - daughter sentenced to probation

(Original Post 5-2-10)

A Palm Coast, FL man who prostituted and had sex with his grown daughter was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 15 years of sex offender probation Friday, April 30. Alton Smith, 47, was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of incest, one count of living off the earnings of prostitution and 52 counts of possession of child pornography. After completion of prison, Smith will be subject to lifetime monitoring under Jessica's Law and civil commitment under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act.

The incest and prostitution counts were due to his pimping (and having sex with) his daughter Kristilyn. The incest led to a 3 year old son who is now in state custody. Because the incest happened in the presence of their son at their former business, Hot Shots A1A Models and Photography, one of the charges Smith plead guilty to was lewd and lascivious exhibition in the presence of a minor under 16.

A suspicious advertisement for an escort service led investigators to arrest Kristilyn Smith for prostitution on Dec. 12 [2008]. Alton Smith also was charged with being a principal to prostitution and was given a notice to appear in court.  According to a police report, Smith admitted his daughter occasionally worked as a paid escort and he told police that those who answered his Internet ads usually would photograph or film his daughter in the nude.

When Flagler investigators returned to the Smiths' Palm Coast home with a search warrant later in December, they said they found photos of "hundreds" of children posed nude or engaged in sex acts.

Officials also arrested Smith's wife, Tina Marie Smith, 44, who is his daughter's stepmother. Tina Marie Smith had been jailed for 15 months until last month when she struck a deal, pleading guilty to aggravated child abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping 37 counts of possession of child pornography against her. She was sentenced to 10 years sex offender probation and will not be listed as a sex offender.

Kristilyn will be sentenced at a later date for 3 counts of incest, prostitution, and child neglect.

(Update 11-23-10) Last Monday, November 16, Kristilyn was sentenced to 5 years probation in a Daytona Beach courtroom for a single charge of incest.  Flagler County, FL Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond dropped a second incest charge and a child neglect charge. Volusia County sentenced Kristilyn to 15 years probation for another incest charge. This concludes the criminal proceedings against her.

Sushi chef serial rapist gets 40 years with 34 to serve

A former sushi chef who was convicted of raping women in the Miami and Miami Beach areas was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment with at least 34 to serve by a Miami Dade court Monday, November 1. 31 year old Arturo Ortiz-Soto plead guilty to 2 counts of rape and two counts of attempted rape under Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, sparinig himself a maximum sentence of 140 years.

Ortiz-Soto worked as a sushi chef at various Miami Beach restaurants, the last a rooftop sushi bar at the Gansevoort South Hotel. His spree included:

• Raping a woman he met outside Jerry's Famous Deli in November 2006. Claiming he owned his own sushi restaurant, Ortiz-Soto bought her a calzone then lured her to an alleyway off 14th Street and Collins Avenue.

• Raping a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and Ninth Street. Ortiz-Soto spied her leaving Mango's Tropical Cafe and lured her into the alley by promising to sell her marijuana. ``Forgive me, I'm sorry,'' he told the woman after the attack, before running off.

• Attempting to rape a woman he met at The Office bar in September 2007. He brutally beat her in an alley off Fourth Street -- after offering her pizza -- but the woman was able to break free.

• Trying to rape a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and 14th Street in July 2008. He punched the woman several times but was scared off by the screams of a passerby.

After the last attack, police officers saw Ortiz-Soto jump into a taxi with blood covered clothes, and surveillance cameras captured him to the act. According to prosecutor Ivonne Sanchez-Ledo, the perp left DNA evidence in the two rape cases. Ortiz-Soto confessed to the crimes after his arrest. Sanchez-Ledio and defense attorney Christopher DeCoste agreed to a three decade sentence, but Judge Venzer rejected that sentence as being too lenient., leading to the 40 year plea bargain. "You have irreparably changed the lives of your victims by your behavior.I do believe this sentence will sufficiently guarantee you do no more harm to our citizens.''

Bay Area serial rapist gets life for attacking four women

A Richmond, California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a rape spree committed against four women between 2007 and 2009 in his hometown and the nearby city of Oakland. Michael Edward Stevens, 30, was sentenced to 165 to life for 15 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. His conviction took place in July, and the sentencing took place Friday, November 5, presided over by Contra Costa County Superior Judge Laurel Brady. Crimes which merited the lifelong sentence included rape, rape in concert, various other sex crimes, false imprisonment and robbery.

Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.

One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.

One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.

The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.

One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.

Seattle serial rapist faces, gets mandatory life without parole sentence for rapes of homeless women

(Original Post 9-20-10)

A serial rapist who was convicted for attacks on two homeless women will be sentenced to life without parole after a Seattle jury convicted him of 2 counts of 2nd degree rape Thursday, September 16. The life sentence which 51 year old Frank Borders will serve upon his sentencing is a consequence of Washington State's three strikes law, which mandated the sentence for a third strike.

The first rape was reported in December 2007, when a 55-year-old woman said Borders, her boyfriend's brother, raped her in the restroom at a downtown Seattle park. The investigation stalled, however, when the victim, who was homeless, disappeared for several months.

After the woman agreed to be interviewed by police the next October, Seattle police began posting fliers with Borders' photo at several downtown homeless shelters in search of other possible victims, according to the court documents.

On March 17, 2009, the day after a flier was posted at a YWCA shelter downtown, police were called by a woman who claimed Borders lured her into the woods with the promise they would smoke crack and assaulted her, court papers said.

The second victim testified during both trials that she didn't come forward earlier because she was convinced that nobody would care about what happened to her because she was homeless during the summer of 2007. She is now 48, off drugs and living in an apartment.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Julie Kays said that due to Borders' 1981 rape conviction of attacking a 18 year old woman for which he served a year in jail and 5 years probation, life without parole is mandatory. "These 12 people protected our community and our very vulnerable by finding him guilty. I have no doubt that if he were released he would re-offend. These 12 people got it that it doesn't matter if you're homeless and an addict you will still get justice."

Borders' attorney, Julie Gaisford, begged to differ, citing the fact that one of the victims was high on crack cocaine and that other did not reliably identify her client. "You glimpse truth over your shoulder, you never see it head on."

(Update 11-4-10) Borders was formally sentenced Friday, October 29, to life without parole by Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert. Before sentencing, Kays said that for targeting vulnerable women, "He preyed on vulnerable women and he banked on the fact no one would care if they came forward.He deserves, based on his conduct alone, to spend the rest of his life in prison."

One of Borders' victims said that the sentencing itself showed that at least in some cases, the justice system does work for vulnerable victims. That victim said that because of Borders' imprisonment,  "I do matter.It's a shame he's thrown away his life. I'm trying to rebuild mine." That victim is no longer homeless.