Sexual predator’s attempt to lessen sentence denied
A Warren man sentenced to decades in prison on several sexual assault charges has had a motion for reconsideration of his sentence denied.
Thomas G. Anthony, 52, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years on two counts of aggravated indecent assault back in January.
The month before, he has been sentenced to 65 to 144 months in state prison on a different slate of sexual offenses.
The two sentences will be served consecutively and it’s anticipated that Anthony will ultimately spend over 20 years in state prison.
Chief Public Defender Mike Kitay said Anthony asked him to file the motion and said that his client “does understand the severity of the convictions” and the damages he has done to the victims.
He suggested he has not previously been given an opportunity to try treatment so it is unfair to say that he has “no prospect at redemption.”
Kitay said his client is asking the court to have a chance at parole in his lifetime if his jail term is “exemplary” and he proves he’s trying to change.
District Attorney Rob Greene said that if Anthony leaves prison in his 70s it will be “too soon.” Further appeals, he said, would be “further tormenting for the victims.”
At sentencing, Greene said that “In regards to Thomas Anthony’s sentence, what I believe should happen to this child predator is not permitted by law….”
Judge Gregory Hammond cited the expert testimony presented at sentencing that was the basis for ruling Anthony to be a sexually violent predator. He said an expert could have been presented in Anthony’s defense at the request of counsel.
“That was not done,” he said, explaining that the Commonwealth met the burden of proof “more so that I’ve seen” in other cases.
“I will never forget” what the victims shared at sentencing, Hammond said.
At sentencing, Hammond cited the victim’s “unbelievable strength and courage.”
“I hold out a great deal of hope for you,” he told them. “You do win. He loses. You win.”
He told the victims that he was “giving the defendant every possible day in prison I can give him and that’s not enough” and that it makes him sick that Anthony might have a breath of fresh air as a free man at some point.
Hammond said Friday that Anthony presents a non-existent chance of successful rehabilitation and shows a “lack of any remorse” for his actions by “attempting to pawn off” his behavior on alcoholism or mental health issues.
“I don’t see Mr. Anthony getting back into society” and accomplishing anything, he continued. “He could dry up for 30 years” and not address why he has such a long prison sentence.
Anthony “doesn’t get any bonuses,” he asserted, because the victims are moving forward successfully in their lives.
In denying the motion, Hammond said he has never seen someone deserve a maximum sentence as much as Anthony.
Kitay told the Times Observer after the hearing that an appeal to the Superior Court was part of the plan coming into Friday’s proceeding.