Oregon man faces 2,750-year jail sentence for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl more than a HUNDRED times
COTTAGE GROVE, OREGON: An Oregon man who is accused of repeatedly raping a six-year-old girl could be sentenced close to 3,000 years in prison.
The Eugene Police Department opened an investigation into David McCutcheon, 39, on May 26 after receiving reports of the abuse, before referring the case to the Cottage Grove police two days later after determining that the alleged crimes took place in their jurisdiction. Detectives interviewed McCutcheon this past Monday, June 8, and Tuesday, June 9, and took him into custody. They said he confessed to raping the girl more than a hundred times over the course of several years, beginning from when she was just six. He is now facing 220 charges, including 70 counts of rape, 40 counts of sodomy, and 110 counts of criminal mistreatment relating to the alleged abuse. Under Oregon's mandatory sentencing laws, he could face thousands of years behind bars if convicted of all counts as charges, according to KVAL.
Rape carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years under the state's Measure 11 sentencing guidelines, while sodomy carries a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years. However, the punishment for the latter charge increases to 25 years if the victim is under the age of 12, as it is in this particular case. McCutcheon would be facing 2,750 years of incarceration if the judge decides to sentence him consecutively for his crimes. In such a scenario, one 25 year sentence would have to be completed before the defendant starts serving the next 25 years. Theoretically, this would mean a maximum possible 1,750 years for rape and a further 1,000 years for sodomy.
The Daily Mail reported that if the judge goes down that route, McCutcheon would be facing a longer punishment than serial rapist Billy Joe Godfrey, who was given 35 consecutive life sentences (or 1,050 years) in 2015. Godfrey had pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two children, who were between the ages of eight and 13, between 1995 and 1999.
The sentence would also put the 39-year-old near the top of the list of the longest prison sentences handed out not just in the U.S., but the world. The longest sentence handed out in a U.S. court that was not a life sentence was given to Charles Scott Robinson, who was ordered to serve 30,000 years behind bars after he was convicted of the six counts against him for raping a three-year-old girl.
But certain mitigating factors could mean McCutcheon doesn't see anywhere close to that much time in prison. For one, prosecutors can negotiate a guilty plea with a defendant in exchange for dismissing some of the charges. A judge could also choose to sentence someone convicted of multiple felonies to serve the time concurrently, which would mean they are serving the sentences for all charges at the same time.
McCutcheon was arraigned on Wednesday, June 10, on eight charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. He is currently being held at the Lane County Jail and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on July 16, 2020.