Lawyer for Maryland teen who pled guilty to raping 7-year-old says he should be sent to a juvenile facility because of his autism, LD

From The Baltimore Sun:

Prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence, life in prison, for a 17-year-old boy who pleaded guilty Nov. 8 to first-degree rape of a 7-year-old girl he took from a playground in his Crofton, Md., neighborhood.

But the attorney for David B. Raszewski, of the 1700 block of Granite Court, said he will propose that Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William C. Mulford II sentence the teenager more like a juvenile - not confine him to an adult state prison and, instead, ensure he receives treatment.

Sentencing has been scheduled for February.

Raszewski, in baggy green clothing from the county jail, appeared calm during the proceeding. The victim's parents fled from the courtroom as Assistant State's Attorney Sandra Howell described the sexual assault in detail.

"This case epitomizes every caretaker and every parent's worst nightmare," Howell said outside the courtroom.

The plea, she said, provided a conviction for the most serious of the 19 charges without having the young victim testify.

The March 20 assault terrified the Crofton community, where some residents criticized police for not immediately alerting them to a report of a rape.

The victim was so clear and thorough in her description of her attacker and his home that Raszewski was quickly apprehended, Howell said.

The girl was at the playground with her younger brother and their baby sitter. The sitter left her on a swing shortly before 4 p.m. to take the boy to the bathroom. When she returned, the girl was gone, Howell said,

Raszewski, who said he had seen the girl at the playground previously, asked her to help move things in his home. She went. There, he sexually assaulted her in his room, Howell said.

Raszewski ended his assault when the girl struggled and cried to leave. He gave her $3, she said.

Meanwhile, the sitter ran to the girl's home. As she frantically called police, the child appeared crying at the door, Howell said. Questioned by police, Raszewski at first denied any role in the assault but then confessed.

"What do you do with someone who is a juvenile in a situation like this?" James Crawford Jr., Raszewski's attorney, said after the hearing, explaining that his client has an autism spectrum disorder and learning disabilities - and, Crawford said, does not belong in an adult prison.

Earlier this year, he was not successful in having the case transferred to juvenile court.

"I'm looking for the court to apply a juvenile-based sentence to someone in the adult system," Crawford said.

Raszewski's father sat alone and somberly throughout the hearing.

"I'm just terribly sad about the whole thing," Mark Raszewski said afterward.