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Man pleads guilty in rape case
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 10:25 AM PST
Damon Noel pleaded guilty Monday to a charge he had sex with a teenage girl he met through a vacation Bible school in North Bend.
A grand jury had indicted the 22-year-old Mississippi native on charges of third-degree rape, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor and third-degree sex abuse.
 Damon Noel, plead guilty
Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said he agreed to drop the latter two charges in exchange for the third-degree rape guilty plea.
Noel’s next court appearance will be for sentencing at 9 a.m on Jan. 26.
Third-degree rape is a felony crime with a presumptive probationary sentence, Frasier said, though he declined to comment further on the case.
Sgt. Pat Downing of the Coos County Sheriff’s Department said the crime does not fall under Measure 11 guidelines, so the judge will have greater leeway in sentencing.
“The judge will look at the person’s criminal history and put it in a matrix,” he said.
According to state court records, Noel was previously convicted on a charge of providing false information to a police officer and put into a diversion program on a charge of possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school in October.
North Bend police arrested Noel on Nov. 28 after he had arranged to meet with the teenager he met through College Park Community Church near Boynton Park. He was taken to Coos County jail, where he was booked and later released. He is staying in an apartment in North Bend. |
