Denzel Lafayette arrives in handcuffs to his sentencing hearing on probation violations on Tuesday, January 28th, A Massachusetts adult who was convicted by a jury in of sneaking in the window of a minor to have sex while her family was sleeping was sentenced Tuesday to additional time for violating his probation conditions by refusing to complete a mandatory treatment program.
A Bennington jury ultimately convicted Lafayette in February on two of the felony counts β sexual assault with no consent and using a weapon during a felony. The two other charges were dismissed, one by the state and one under seal. Lafayette was sentenced after his conviction to a confinement term of 5 years to life on the sexual assault and a year term on the weapons charge. The combined sentence was suspended except for a 5-year confinement, concurrent on both charges.
He was given numerous conditions of probation, including sex offender registration, no contact with the victim or anyone under the age of 16, no social media usage, and the condition he complete a Department of Corrections in-house treatment program for sex abusers while he served his sentence. In February , Lafayette was charged with violating his probation conditions by refusing to participate in the treatment program while incarcerated.
At the time, Lafayette claimed he could not participate and take responsibility for his actions due to a Supreme Court appeal of his case. The courts denied that appeal, but Lafayette, according to charging documents, never participated or tried to rejoin in the required treatment program. Since the treatment program would have been longer than the timeframe left in the unsuspended portion of his sentence, she added the exact amount of time he needs to complete the program.
Prosecutors had asked to revoke his split sentence for a complete 5-to-life sentence to serve. Defense attorney Frederick Bragdon asked the judge to allow Lafayette to complete his split sentence and seek a community treatment program after his release.
