Delancion D. Newsome, 28, was sentenced Thursday by Champaign County Judge Randy Rosenbaum after pleading guilty to criminal sexual assault in April and confessing to having sex with someone he knew was unable to agree.
“I was raped as a 17-year-old by someone I didn’t even know, by someone else’s company, all while asleep in my own home, where I should’ve felt the safest,” read an extract from the victim’s impact statement. “Even though I’m 21, I still can’t stay at home alone for too long.” ‘Stop!’ I used to shout in the middle of the night.'”
“I just want to apologize to the victim for what happened that night, if I misread it,” Newsome told the judge before being sentenced. “Since I’ve been out on bond these past three years, it’s been really challenging for me, as far as dealing with stuff that I have to hear and encounter and the embarrassment and humiliation that I have brought towards my family, let alone the victim’s family.”
Detective Doug Pipkins of the Urbana Police Department stated that on Aug. 29, 2019, he received a complaint from a 17-year-old female who claimed she had been sexually assaulted the night before.
According to Pipkins, the woman told police she was at her apartment on Aug. 28 with her roommate and Newsome, who had brought lean—a codeine-laced drink. She felt exhausted after drinking and went to bed. The woman said she awoke to find a stranger in her room, caressing and groping her.
Pipkins testified that the victim told the guy “no” but couldn’t fight him off because she felt intoxicated. She went to the hospital the next morning to complete a sexual assault kit.
Police, according to Pipkins, discovered two used condoms in the victim’s room that tested positive for her and Newsome’s DNA. According to Pipkins, the victim’s urine also tested positive for etizolam, a sedative regarded as a date-rape medication.
Newsome faces one to six years in jail and must serve at least half of his sentence.
Assistant State’s Attorney Troy Lozar argued for the maximum penalty of six years, saying Newsome arrived at the victim’s residence with a plan, and text exchanges reveal he originally denied having sex with her.
While the victim was not legally deemed a minor at the time of the attack, Lozar stressed that Newsome, at the age of 24, was much older.
“It’s not just about deterrence,” added Lozar. “The state believes that a certain level of punishment is absolutely necessary, as this was the most intimate invasion and transgression against the dignity of another human being one can elect to commit, and he committed it with zeal.”
During Pipkins’ cross-examination, Newsome’s attorney, Baku Patel, emphasized that the victim told police that all three people in the apartment drank from the cup of lean, that evidence showed they had also consumed cannabis and alcohol, and that officers discovered another man had arrived at and left the apartment before Newsome later returned.
Pipkins also testified that the victim’s roommate informed police that after the victim went to bed, Newsome told her that he was going to check on her. According to Pipkins, the roommate stated that she was not concerned about his doing so because she had previously detected some flirting between the two.
Pipkins said that the roommate was first suspicious that a sexual assault had happened since she hadn’t heard a fight.
Patel argued for probation for his client, stating that Newsome feels remorse, humiliation, and sorrow for his conduct, which is required for rehabilitation. He stated that Newsome want to accept responsibility for the offense while fully conscious that his conviction will limit him by requiring him to register as a sex offender.
“No doubt, my client misread the situation extraordinarily badly,” Patel was quoted as saying. “All we’re trying to do is say that’s what happened in his mind.” It was a terribly misinterpreted situation.”
Patel also summoned Newsome’s mother, Deona Miller, with whom he has resided since the family relocated to Belleville.
“I’m just glad that this day has come,” she went on to say. “This incident has weighed heavily on my life, and I know it has weighed heavily on the victim’s and the family’s lives as well.” And I’m simply pleased that, whatever happens, the mending process can begin today.”
Before imposing the term, Rosenbaum stated that he finds it difficult to understand that Newsome misinterpreted the circumstances and that Newsome has been on community-based sentencing since 2013 owing to past convictions for aggravated unauthorized use of a firearm and aggravated robbery.
Rosenbaum, on the other hand, stated that Newsome has accepted responsibility for his conduct and has been working full-time without getting even a traffic citation since the event.
“I do believe that, to some small degree, the public needs to be protected,” Rosenbaum said in a statement. “And I do believe that given the fact that he’s been given chances at probation and failed them before, and the facts and circumstances of his case, a community-based sentence could degrade the seriousness of his conduct and be inconsistent with the ends of justice.”
“However, I don’t think any lengthy imprisonment would change Mr. Newsome,” he went on to say. “I do believe he is starting to go down the right path.”
