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Clifford Taylor Blames His Victim, a 51-year-old Ohio man who recently admitted to and was convicted of raping a 5-year-old girl, blamed the victim for his crime during sentencing on November 12th.
“I need to rescind the plea deal,” he told Judge Eugene A. Lucci. “I was not told the truth by my attorney. He threatened me.”
When Lucci asked how Mathews threatened him, Taylor replied, “I was threatened with mental incompetence. He threatened me, saying there was some reason I wasn’t thinking properly.”
The judge then explained that Mathews was simply trying to ask him if he thought a hearing to determine his mental status was necessary, rather than trick him into making a plea he didn’t want to make.
“You are represented by a very competent counsel,” Lucci said. “I consider him to be highly competent and specialized in the area of criminal law.”
Lucci then noted that he asked him “about 100” questions at the change of plea hearing to make sure he made the plea knowingly and voluntarily.
At the plea, Taylor said he encouraged the girl to perform sex acts on him by bribing her with a Pudding Pop when she was hungry.
“It’s not true! I was told to lie to you by the man sitting right next to me,” Taylor said Nov. 12. “I don’t even remember what I told you. But it wasn’t true. The lie was that I put my penis in her mouth for Pudding Pops. My penis did get in her mouth, but I didn’t put it in there. She put it in there. She grabbed me. She was experimenting. I was drunk and realized it too late.”
Several people in the standing-room only courtroom gasped at Taylor’s claims.
Lucci denied Taylor’s motion to withdraw his plea and then immediately sentenced him to two years more than what his attorney and Assistant County Prosecutor Patrick Condon had jointly recommended.
“I am not a monster like everybody is making me out to me,” Taylor said.
Condon told the judge that Taylor was the perpetrator, adding that the defendant “has no redeeming qualities.”
Lucci agreed.
“There was not a scintilla of remorse,” said the judge. “Even in court he blamed the victim for taking his penis in her mouth as a form of experimentation. At the age of 5!”
Clifford Taylor was also declared a sex offender for life.
His attorney requested he not have to represent Taylor at his appeal.
Twelve members of the Andover-based group Bikers Against Child Abuse attended the hearing to lend physical and emotional support for the victim and her family.
“We were made aware of the case and we came to support the community,” said the group’s president, who goes by the name Sniper. “It is our ultimate responsibility as a community to protect children.”
Agencies/Canadajournal
