Convicted rapist and former UCSB soccer player Eric Frimpong was sentenced to six years in a state penitentiary today, drawing scores of Frimpong’s supporters and local media to the hearing.
Presiding Judge Brian Hill sentenced Frimpong, who was convicted of felony rape on Dec. 17, 2007, and opted not to allot him the maximum punishment of eight years nor the minimum amount of three years. Hill cited the cruel, vicious and callous nature of the crime as reasoning behind his decision but said that the lack of any criminal record prevented him from imposing the maximum sentence. Defense Attorney Robert Sanger, however, mentioned his intention to file an appeal against the outcome of the trial.
Prior to issuing is his ruling, Hill allowed the prosecution to call witnesses to comment on Frimpong’s sentencing. The victim’s father was the first to issue a statement and was followed by a prepared statement by the victim, which was read aloud by a member of the district attorney’s office. The victim and her family were present in the courtroom.
During his address to the court, the victim’s father expressed his relief that the year-long ordeal was coming to an end.
“I’m glad this is nearly over,” he said. “It has been a tough year. [My daughter] was in the prime of her life and it was ruined. I think it is now time she can start to heal.”
The victim’s statements followed in a similar vein, stating that Frimpong’s actions have caused serious pain in her life.
“Eric Frimpong ruined my life,” the victim’s statement read. “He raped … and strangled me and for over a year my character has been called into question. It’s really not for anyone else to say because I was there and they weren’t.”
Later, the victim’s father called into question the media’s role in covering the trial.
“The media [has] tracked this like some Ivy League school B-movie,” he said.
The father asked the court to impose the maximum sentence and said that he hopes upon release, Frimpong will be deported from the country. Frimpong was born and raised in the African country of Ghana.
The courtroom was standing-room only and TV cameras filmed the proceedings for local news outlets. Much of the UCSB soccer team was in attendance along with many other supporters of Frimpong. On numerous occasions, Hill breached the subject of the defendant’s strong community support but dismissed that as a reason for shortening the sentence.
Frimpong appeared stoic throughout the hearing and sentencing. Many of Frimpong’s friends and allies, however, were overwhelmed with emotion following the hearing.
Supporters of Frimpong distributed a self-produced press release to media covering the event that insisted on their claim of Frimpong’s innocence.
“Eric Frimpong is an innocent man,” the press release said. “He has been wrongfully prosecuted and convicted of a rape he did not commit. From the moment this very drunk girl, a girl who admitted she had ‘chunks of memory missing’ as to what happened, made allegations of rape, Eric [Frimpong] has been treated unfairly by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives, the district attorney’s office and the court.”
Hill, prior to discussing the sentencing, stood by the jury’s ruling once more.
“I am convinced, beyond any doubt, that the jury reached the correct decision,” Hill said.
GoodThe sentence seems fair for the situation. I hope this goes out as a lesson to everyone, just because the girls drunk does not mean you have the right to sleep with her. I am disgusted by the reaction this campus has had toward this case. Clearly people do not understand what rape is thanks to the culture of IV. For the victim, you do have people on this campus that support you and are more than glad that you risked your reputation to do what was right. You are braver than most, and truly deserve credit for what you… Read more »
You honestly think people on campus don’t think the situation was rape? You are in your own world. People are angry that there didn’t seem to be enough evidence to justly convicting Frimpong. It should guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. To me, it seemed like there was a little bit of doubt in there. It also seems a little interesting that the only rape case that ever makes the news in SB involves a black male and a white female. Seems to me like persons of African decent are under-represented in SB, but not when it involves crimes. That is… Read more »
Is that so?http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=13500 Looks pretty white to me. And if you’re going to say something silly about how Neff’s case "wasn’t heavily covered because he was white," I’d suggest you look at how much coverage the case of another white kid – last name Attias – got. Or maybe you should do a news analysis and look at the stats of how many white criminals get put in the news around SB versus how many black, Latino, etc. You may be surprised. This isn’t to discount the disgusting amount of racism in SB (and the country). I just think we… Read more »
None of us but Frimpong and the victim were there. I can only hope that justice was carried out. I agree with the above poster. Racism was not the driving force behind Frimpong’s prosecution. I think the reason this got so much coverage is the fact that he’s something of a "celebrity" having been on our soccer team. It was also this celebrity which lead many to assume his innocence. I’ve talked to people who say he was innocent because they met him one time and he "seemed nice". To laxer, if there is any -ism involved in this case,… Read more »
race issuesIt seems that the only people who believe in race issues are people who make them a big deal. Laxer, I am sure most students at UCSB did not look at the Frimpong case the same way you do. To me it was a rape case between a "celebrity" UCSB student and another UCSB student. You are the only person I have heard of far who assert that Frimpong’s case was covered with racist overtones. If you are going to tell me that Frimpong was only in the media because he is black and he raped a white female… Read more »
FYI
The victim in the Frimpong case was not white/Caucasian, FYI