A man originally charged with raping a 15-year-old girl admitted guilt to a lesser charge Wednesday as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Joseph T. Warhol, 19, will be sentenced next month for felony battery with a deadly weapon, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer. The agreement was made with the endorsement of the victim and her family, she added.
"There were conflicting statements and we were relying on 'he said, she said,'" Langer said. "The victim believes it was the proper thing to do."
Another point of consideration was the fact that Warhol's arrest on the May 22 rape charge sent him to prison to serve a suspended sentence of 18 to 60 months on a previous guilty plea in a August 1999 stabbing that put a man in the hospital. Although Warhol was given a suspended sentence in the case, after his arrest on the rape charge, Judge Michael Griffin sent him to prison to do the time.
James Clayton Chessor, the 23-year-old stabbing victim, was hospitalized for several days with the chest wound. The stabbing apparently happened when "slap-fighting" between the two men escalated and Warhol pulled out a knife.
The assault victim told police she and a friend had accompanied Warhol and another man on a day-trip to a Lake Tahoe beach before returning to a Carson City home.
Once inside, she alleges Warhol stepped inside a bedroom with her "pushed her down on the bed and told her to relax," the report states. He then reportedly undressed her and assaulted her before putting on a hat and leaving angry.
After the girl contacted a friend for a ride home, the girl was taken to the hospital. During a jailhouse interview the next morning, Warhol allegedly admitted having sex with the girl, but claims it was consensual. He was represented by court-appointed lawyer Karen Lindsay.
As part of the agreement, Langer is free to argue for a tougher sentence when Warhol appears in district court. She said she would like to see an additional year tacked on to the sentence that he is currently serving.
