A man arrested in a child sex sting last summer in Auburn has been sentenced to prison.Â
Wilver O. Laparra-Gonzalez, 35, was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison by Judge Jon Budelmann on Tuesday morning in Cayuga County Court.
Laparra-Gonzalez, who gave officers an address in Throop but is in the U.S. illegally, was charged Aug. 8 with second-degree attempted rape and second-degree attempted criminal sex act. His arrest at Melone Village apartments followed a child sexual exploitation investigation that led to two other arrests and a suicide in front of officers.Â
Local law enforcement is wrapping up its investigations into a fatal shooting in August in Auburn.
However, the judge said he decided to give Laparra-Gonzalez a shorter sentence than the three years sought by the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office because it was the defendant's first crime, he has been supporting his family, and the Cayuga County Probation Department believes he has a low risk of recidivism.
The sentence will be followed by three years of post-release supervision.
Asked by Budelmann through an interpreter if he had anything to say, Laparra-Gonzalez declined comment.
District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV after court that the defendant had declined a plea offer of three years in prison with five years of post-release supervision. The maximum sentence for the crime is four years in prison. Because he pleaded guilty to the entire indictment, the sentence was at the court's discretion.Â
Laparra-Gonzalez's attorney, Todd Sloan, declined comment to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV.
The Justice Department Inspector General has released a harshly critical report about the FBI's handling of investigations into allegations of child exploitation. And this report identifies multiple ways in which the FBI is continuing to fall short in these types of investigations.
Executive Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net.
