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No Jail For Former School Bus Driver Who Raped 14-Year-Old Girl
Not only will Shane Piche not have to serve time behind bars but his status as a Level 1 sex offender means he won't be included in the online registry.
A New York man who admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl he met while driving a school bus will receive no jail time for the crime.
Shane Piche, 26, of Watertown, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years probation, according WWNY-TV in Carthage, New York.
He will have to register as a Level 1 sex offender and will not be allowed to be alone with anyone under the age of 17.
Piche pleaded guilty to third-degree rape back in February. The assault took place in Piche’s home.
He no longer works as a school bus driver.
"He'll be a felon for the rest of his life. He's on the sex offender registry for a long time. Maybe not the rest of his life because of the level but this isn't something that didn't cause him pain and this isn't something that didn't have consequences," Piche’s defense attorney Eric Swartz said during his sentencing.
During sentencing, the judge made sure to note that Piche had no previous arrests, according to the Watertown Daily Times. Because there was one victim instead of more, the judge decided Level 1 was more appropriate than having to register as a Level 2 sex offender, which is what prosecutors were asking for. Level 1 sex offenders are considered to be at low risk of reoffending and are typically not included in online sex offender databases.
The mother of the victim wasn’t too thrilled with the outcome.
"I wish Shane Piche would have received time in jail for the harm he caused to my child,” she said in a victim statement provided to WWNY. “He took something from my daughter she will never get back and has caused her to struggle with depression and anxiety.”
The former bus driver was additionally charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child and endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly providing the girl with alcohol. He will have to pay $375 in court fees and surcharges in addition to a $1,000 special sex offender registration fee.
