In a sentencing memorandum filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District for Missouri, the lawyer representing a Golden City man charged with sexual exploitation of an underage female says his client should receive a lighter sentence because the girl was predator and was asking for it.
When Elliott Nelson, 32, is sentenced November 10, he should receive only 15 years for his crimes and not 25, Springfield attorney Adam Woody says.
Woody points out that Nelson has no previous history of sexual crimes, that he has a solid work history, a strong family and community support system and that if he is released from prison at age 47, studies show there are fewer repeat offenders past age 45.
Then Woody asked the judge to consider the behavior of Nelson's victim. In this particular instance, the victim was the first to discuss sexual contact with Mr. Nelson and she persisted in her advances.
Clearly, Mr. Nelson should have resisted her advances. For that failure and his actions, he will pay the extremely heavy price of substantial prison time and sex offender registration for life.
Unfortunately, the victim has done the same thing to at least five other men.
As discussed in the PSR at paragraph 9, the victim was residing with a 21- year-old as of June 7, 2019 and the investigating agent in this case is aware of at least five other men who this victim has pursued and who are now under investigation themselves.
It seems she knows exactly what she is doing in her quest to have these men at her bidding but does not know the catastrophic consequences that her behavior can have on their lives. Mr. Nelson here has never been in trouble for any sexual act and but for his refusal to resist the pursuit of an experienced teenager here, he would not be in this position.
Included in today's sentencing memorandum were more than a dozen letters vouching for Nelson, including one from the victim's aunt.
Let me tell you about my niece. My niece has always had older men as her boyfriends. Her parents are not the best influences. My niece has gotten a few different men in trouble. It has not been just Elliott.
At the age of 13, my niece had a 21-year-old boyfriend. Her parents knew about it and still allowed it to happen. My sister has always told my niece that it was OK to sleep with these older men. So that is all my niece goes for.
The night in question Elliott was extremely drunk and my niece seen an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and she did.
My niece knows exactly what she is doing. She brags to everyone about it.
I have tried to explain to her that she could get these men in trouble and she just doesn't care. She told me, "Well, my mom knows and she's OK with it, so it's fine.
I talked to my sister and she told me that my niece is going to do what she wants to with whoever she wants to. I told my sister it was wrong and it could ruin people's lives.
My sister says it is what it is.
My niece is currently in state custody because her mother, my sister, lost her. My sister left her at home by herself for weeks at a time with her now 24-year-old boyfriend. So the state finally stepped in and took her away.
My sister brought different men in and out of the home so to my niece it was normal to just sleep with whoever you wanted no matter their age. She has done that since she was old enough to know what sex was.
I wholeheartedly believe that if Elliott had not been so drunk he didn't know what was going on this would never have happened. I believe if my niece would have had better examples as parents this would would never have happened.
Elliott never once touched one of my girls- never!
According to the probable cause affidavit, Nelson asked the 15-year-old for sex, sent her a photo of his genitalia and sent sexual messages to the girl between April 11 and April 20, 2019, asking her to send him nude photos.
Nelson acknowledged to investigators that he had sent the obscene photo to the girl.
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