by Ivan Foley
Landmark editor
Modifying his own earlier decision, Platte County Circuit Court Judge Abe Shafer has significantly reduced the sentence he handed down to a Platte County man guilty of raping and sodomizing a child and possessing pornography.
In a move observers say is extremely rare, Shafer acted upon his own motion and gave consideration to modifying a 26-year prison sentence to Aaron R. Joordens, 39.
The judge last week knocked nearly 75 percent off his original sentence, deciding to reduce Joordens’ time in prison to seven years.
The action by Shafer came one month after the publication Missouri Lawyers Weekly in a front page story detailed how Shafer has repeatedly gone above and beyond guidelines set forth by the Sentencing Advisory Commission. That article focused on the possibility of the Sentencing Advisory Commission being abolished.
In addition, Shafer has recently been praised in an editorial in The Landmark for his tough sentences against those convicted of sex crimes involving children.
Observers of the legal system told The Landmark the new sentence means Joordens will likely be on the street again in less than five years.
“We are surprised and disappointed that Judge Shafer cut this man’s prison time to a fraction of his original sentence,” Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd told The Landmark after the judge’s decision.
“The criminal defense lawyer presented absolutely no evidence justifying a reduction of the original 26-year sentence. That sentence was fair and just,” Zahnd remarked.
The situation could end up in court once again, as Zahnd said there may be an appeal filed by his office.
“We are investigating whether we can appeal Judge Shafer's reduced sentence," Zahnd said this week.
The state has 10 days from Judge Shafer’s latest ruling to make a filing with the appellate court.
In January, Joordens received the 26-year prison sentence from Shafer after Joordens pled guilty to the charges of child rape and possessing images of child porn.
Joordens was convicted of two Class B felonies with prison times up to 15 years each and two Class C felonies with prison sentences of up to seven years each.
Joordens had pled guilty to having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl in January of 2009. Following the encounter, Joordens sent the victim several sexually explicit text messages.
Joordens pled guilty to statutory rape and second degree statutory sodomy on the day his trial was scheduled to begin. He had previously pled guilty to the two counts of possessing child porn.
TIMELINE OF ACTIVITY
On Jan. 6 of this year, Shafer sentenced Joordens to 26 years.
Then Joordens’ attorney filed a motion for the sentence to be reconsidered. That motion was heard with no action initially taken. Then the judge acted on his own motion to set a hearing for reconsideration. That hearing was held in Shafer’s courtroom last week.
At that hearing, Joordens’ attorney told the court that the defendant’s “family loves him.”
“He has the rest of his life ahead of him in an 8’x 12’ steel box, essentially until he’s dead or he is an old man,” said Michael McIntosh, Joorden’s lawyer.
McIntosh asked the judge to consider giving his client “a chance to show that he would rather comply with the laws of the state of Missouri and the laws of God.”
McIntosh pointed out that Joordens had many family members present in the courtroom. He said the family was present to express to the judge that the “sentence was unjust or inappropriate for this defendant.”
Judge Shafer asked the family members to one by one introduce themselves to the court. Joorden’s parents, aunts, uncles and cousins stood and stated their names. Some had come from California, others from Springfield.
An assistant to Zahnd urged Shafer not to modify the original 26-year prison sentence.
“He admitted that he raped and sodomized a child. He admitted to possessing child pornography that shows an eight or nine year old boy who is clearly drugged being raped and sodomized,” assistant prosecutor Chris Seufert reminded the judge.
Seufert also detailed for the court that Joordens possessed child porn that showed 36 different people “ejaculating on kids, some as young as infants.”
Shafer then made a point to say that Joordens was not charged with possessing that particular piece of pornography described by Seufert. Zahnd later told The Landmark it is typical for his office not to file charges on all possible images of child pornography “when a sufficient number of counts have already been filed to achieve a just sentence.”
Seufert acknowledged to the judge that there was not a charge for the video he mentioned, but added: “It goes to his character. This is a person who revels in the sexual abuse of children.”
Seufert continued: “The reason people collect child porn is for sexual gratification.”
Seufert, who specializes in working these types of cases for the prosecutor’s office, said the porn Joordens possessed contained “some of the most horrific images” he had seen in his experience in the field of prosecution.
“Twenty six years is a fair and just sentence for this man and I would suggest it is a merciful sentence,” Seufert told the judge.
Asked if he had any words, Joordens told the court: “I would like to say I’m very sorry. I wish I could take it back. If I could go back in time I would change everything.”
Following Joordens’ brief words, Shafer announced that he would be amending his original sentence.
“After long and careful consideration, I have determined that the sentencing I pronounced was not appropriate,” Shafer said.
Shafer pointed out that Joordens had no prior criminal history.
The judge then said he was sentencing Joordens to seven years on two of the counts against him and six years on two other counts. But the sentences will run concurrently, meaning total time for the prison sentences would be seven years.
Later, Zahnd told The Landmark: ‘It’s true Joordens had no prior criminal history. But that’s true of the vast majority of people convicted of raping children.”
VICTIM’S FAMILY
REACTS TO ACTION
Joordens’ 16-year-old victim was in the courtroom for the proceedings last week, along with her parents. The parents, whose names are not being used by The Landmark to protect the identity of the young victim, were visibly upset with Shafer’s decision to significantly cut Joordens’ sentence.
“I would express to the judge that the family members that came to support (Joordens) do not know him. To hear them tell it, this is a good boy. This is not a good guy. This guy is a dangerous predator,” the victim’s father told The Landmark.
“The fact you’ve never been caught before doesn’t mean you should get another chance, especially in a crime that affects so many people for the rest of their lives,” the victim’s father added.
Joordens and his children were friends of the victim and the victim’s family. The families had been friends for a period of years. The victim’s family resides in Liberty, Joordens’ residence at the time of the crime was near Parkville. Joordens also had a girlfriend, a step-daughter, a biological daughter and a biological son living in the residence, according to the victim’s father.
The rape and sodomy took place at Joordens’ residence when the victim was an overnight guest, about 10 days after her 16th birthday.
“I almost feel that he thought he wouldn’t be in trouble because she had turned 16. Pedophiles don’t think like normal human beings,” the victim’s father said. “It’s almost like he had been grooming her.
“It sounds like that if you say you’re sorry, it’s ok and (the system) makes it better for you. This is probably one of the most heinous crimes you could ever do,” the young girl’s father added.
“This was a child. How many other children do you think haven’t come forward? You don’t know and we may never know. It seems to me once a pedophile, always a pedophile. I’ve never seen anybody have a success story.
“What has happened to my family should never have to happen to anyone, but it did. All you can do is try to make sure that nobody else has to go through that, at least with the predator you had to deal with,” the father told The Landmark.
He added the entire situation has negatively affected his daughter and the entire family in a number of ways.
“It has almost financially bankrupted us with treatments, psychologists and therapists to get our child through this so she can have a normal, productive life,” he stated.
“The more I find out about this world the more I just don’t trust anyone.”
The victim’s mother had similar comments.
“I’m so angry. I feel like we were victimized by this whole situation,” the mother explained.
“I think (Joordens) should have done to him what he has done to others,” she said. “God only knows what he has done to who else.
“When we were (at the courthouse for the hearing) we found out more stuff (about Joordens’ behavior). That makes it even more disturbing that he got off so easy,” the victim’s mother added.
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