WORCESTER – A local man convicted of child rape by a Worcester Supreme Court jury was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Richard S. Hokanson, 40, a former Spencer and Leicester resident, received the sentence — the mandatory minimum for the crime — during a hearing on Dec. 10.
Court records show that after a three-day trial in November, a jury convicted Hokanson of child rape, aggravated assault and battery on a child under 14, lascivious nude posing of a child, photographing an unsuspecting person in the nude and possession of child pornography.
In addition to 10 years at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Hokanson will be on probation for three years upon his release, with conditions including registration as a sex offender, sex offender evaluation and treatment and an order to stay away from police. victim.
Official courtroom audio from the sentencing hearing shows that the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, Thomas Ayres, has called for a prison sentence of 12 to 15 years, while Hokanson’s attorney, Tom Vukmirovits, has asked for the minimum sentence of ten years has applied for.
In requesting the minimum, Vukmirovits said the 8-year-old victim was asleep in the business at the time they were attacked and photographed, and told investigators they did not remember that.
Vukmirovits argued that the crime appeared to have been fueled by a night of heavy drinking, and said that while police found photographic evidence of the crime on Hokanson’s phone, they found no other evidence that he had a “propensity” to abuse children to abuse.
Vukmirovits further noted that Hokanson had several family members in court to support him.
Judge James Gavin Reardon Jr. of the Worcester Superior Court imposed the sentence. Hokanson will receive 447 days credit for time spent in jail awaiting trial.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Child rapist Richard Hokanson sentenced to 10 years in prison
