10 years for child molester

PALMER — After listening to the mother of an abused girl detail for her abuser the changes in the girl’s life, Superior Court Judge Eric Smith seemed genuinely touched.

“That articulated about as beautifully as I’ve ever heard what happens to kids when you do this to them,” Smith said, before handing Lincoln Riley a 10-year sentence for sexual abuse of a minor.

Riley was charged with abusing two girls, said Palmer Assistant District Attorney Brittany Dunlop.

“Standing on their own, the state recognized (the offenses) were difficult to prosecute,” Dunlop told Smith.

Both cases were based mostly on statements from victims. One had some corroborating evidence from the girl’s mother. Dunlop said it was clear when weighing the two cases together that Riley had abused both girls, but it seemed likely the state would have to separate the cases for trial, weakening both.

She said the 10-year sentence was focused mainly on rehabilitation because Riley had pleaded guilty to the charges That, Dunlop said, is the first step toward rehabilitation. Still, she said, he has a lengthy criminal history.

“His hopes at rehabilitation are guarded,” she said.

For his part, Riley’s attorney Bruce Brown said that his client has a serious alcohol abuse problem.

“Mr. Riley’s not a bad man, he just has a bad drinking problem,” Brown said. “Once he’s sober he’s a fine man to talk to. He has a good sense of humor.”

He said his client recognized that his previous belief that molesting the girls was “just having fun” was “the way a drunk person thinks. It’s not the way a sober person thinks.”

The mother of one of the girls — who was 8 at the time Riley molested her — said that her daughter has trouble now with trusting men. She’s wary around male relatives.

“It has caused my family great pain,” she said. “She is not the same.”

For his part, Smith acknowledged that Riley would likely be unable to turn his life around if he did not get his drinking under control. Still, Smith said, that didn’t let Riley off the hook.

“Alcohol could on some level be an explanation, it could never be an excuse,” Smith said.

After all was said and done with the sentence officially imposed on Riley, Smith took a minute to address the girl’s mother directly.

“As she gets older, I hope that she will figure it out that this was just one horrible thing that happened,” he told her.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.