Republicans are criticizing North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Ross for pushing for a court to give leniency to a 13-year-old found guilty of sexually assaulting his 23-year-old neighbor.
CNN reported Friday that Ross helped write a friend-of-the-court brief for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the 1994 case against Andre Green. The ACLU disagreed with the prosecutor’s decision to try him as an adult, which carried a potential life sentence.
{mosads}Just months after Green was indicted, North Carolina scrapped a mandatory life sentence for first-degree sexual offenders, CNN reported. So the ACLU’s brief, co-signed by Ross, argued that he deserved to be spared the full force of the justice system in part because he had a low IQ and no criminal history.
“Andre admittedly committed a grave crime, but he is not a street hardened, calculating and experienced and vicious criminal, deserving of life imprisonment at age 13. He could have benefited from five years of rehabilitative services in the juvenile court system,” the ACLU brief said, according to CNN.
“This case is simply one of the least suitable from going over to adult court.”
But the state Supreme Court ultimately ruled he could be tried as an adult by a 4-3 margin.
“The cruelty of the attack, it’s predatory nature toward an essential stranger, the defendant’s refusal to accept full responsibility, his difficulty controlling his temper, his previous record and his unsupportive family situation all suggest defendant is not particularly suited to the purpose and type of rehabilitation dominant in the juvenile system,” the court wrote, according to CNN.
Court documents uncovered by CNN found that Green broke into his neighbor’s home, hit her and sexually assaulted her, only stopping once police entered. At one point, he threatened to “rip her insides out,” the documents say.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out the story minutes after it broke, questioning whether the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee would continue to support Ross’s candidacy.
Ross told CNN in a statement that she’s “worked to protect women and families my entire career and have personally supported rape survivors.”
“As I said at the time, this rape was a violent crime and the perpetrator needed to be locked up. I know how important it is for justice to be served in these tragedies and of course violent criminals should be put behind bars,” she added.
The revelation comes just weeks before Election Day as Ross faces a tight race against incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr.