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Sean SullivanAmerican accused of rape
Country:
 USA |
Content:
Biography of Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan is an American citizen who has been accused by the United States law enforcement system of raping a 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulting two 11-year-old children in Minnesota in the 90s. He holds dual American-Irish citizenship, which allowed him to seek refuge in the United Kingdom. When the Minnesota state prosecutors were preparing to charge the man suspected of molesting two girls and raping a third in the 90s, he fled the United States and eventually settled in London. However, he was located there two years ago. The Minnesota District Attorney's Office made every effort to bring Sean Sullivan to court for his crimes, but the UK High Court overturned his extradition, stating that the USA does not guarantee that Sullivan will not be placed in a draconian state correctional program. Judges Alan Moses and David Eady stated that if 43-year-old Sullivan returns to the United States, he faces a real danger of being placed in a mandatory state correctional program, resulting in a "monstrous denial of his rights". One of the prosecutors working on Sullivan's case called this decision a "slap in the face". One of the victims, 29-year-old Jessica Schaefer, whom Sullivan allegedly assaulted when she was 11 years old, called the arguments of the British court irrational. According to her, it is just another loophole in the justice system that favors criminals. The Associated Press does not disclose the names of the alleged victims of sexual violence without their consent. The residents of Minnesota who were attacked by Sullivan when they were children agreed to have their names disclosed by the Associated Press. The offices of the two county prosecutors in the districts where Sullivan was charged defend their decision to deny the offender a guarantee that he will avoid participation in the program, as they believe that participation in the program would be in the interest of public safety. Hennepin County Prosecutor Mike Freeman believes that the British authorities have gone beyond the reasonable by interfering in how their American colleagues handle their cases.
Sullivan fled to Ireland to avoid trial in the United States and while he was there, he was accused of sexually assaulting two 12-year-old girls. However, the British judges made it clear that they would support Sullivan's extradition if it were not for the risk of ending up in a correctional program for sexual offenders, which they described as one of the harshest in the States. The current version of the program has existed since the mid-90s and allows the court to assign participation to individuals deemed sexually dangerous by the judges. As of April 1, 2012, 641 people from Minnesota have participated in the program, and there has not been a single case where someone without a criminal record entered the program, although theoretically it is possible. Peter Wold, a criminal defense attorney representing Sullivan in Minnesota, explained that the British judges refused to extradite the defendant due to the prospect of indefinite incarceration after serving a prison sentence. In general, American prosecutors occasionally encounter refusals from other countries to extradite suspects. For example, European Union countries usually do not extradite criminals who may face the death penalty in the United States unless the American prosecution provides guarantees that they will not seek the death penalty.
