7-15-2007 New JerseyWhat happened: A Paterson man was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Friday for raping a 9-year-old girl. The girl's uncles, upon learning of the sex assault, got revenge by beating defendant Paul Smith so severely that he is now blind and deaf in one ear.
"I got beaten with baseball bats ... I can no longer see ... Please have leniency toward my condition," Smith, 40, asked Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela before sentencing. Caposela said the two uncles are serving substantial prison sentences for their "vigilantism" and that he could not factor what happened to Smith into his decision.
The judge sentenced him to 20 years on the charge of aggravated sexual assault, 10 years for sexual assault and another 10 years for endangering the welfare of the child. The sex assault term will run concurrent with the others. Smith will have to serve at least 15 years before becoming eligible for parole.
"I forgive you for what you have done to me," the victim, now a teenager, said in a letter read to the court by her aunt. "For a long time, you had me scared to go anywhere by myself ... I have overcome that fear ... You are no longer in control of my life ... Someone must have hurt you so bad as a child that you hurt kids."
Background: Smith, convicted at a trial in April, sexually assaulted the girl on three occasions over 1½ years in Paterson. The girl revealed the abuse in April 2003, more than a year after it happened. ..more.. by John Petrick
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