Kenneth W. Sands is taken directly to jail after sentencing in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The attorney for a school bus driver who was arrested last autumn for groping teenage girls after their volleyball game in Onalaska told a judge the behavior was completely out of the ordinary, and related to a manic state caused by his bi-polar disorder.
Kenneth W. Sands, 52, was in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday following a plea agreement in which he would be sentenced for five counts of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation.
Sands drove a bus for the Rainier School District and was off-duty but had gone to the game in Onalaska last October to support the Rainier team.
He was arrested after he reportedly grabbed a 15-year-old volleyball player’s buttocks as she waited to board the bus, slapped a 16-year-old on the buttocks and then got on the bus and touched the breasts of a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. An adult female said he fondled her during the game.
Olympia lawyer Paul A. Strophy said Sands had just switched medications at the time and was adjusting to the change, plus had used caffeine to counteract the effects of a long bus trip the day before to Forks. Sands pleaded guilty in May.
The two lawyers agreed on the recommended sentence, but Strophy appealed to Judge James Lawler to allow his client to serve his time under house arrest, saying as as former corrections officer, he was extremely anxious about being incarcerated. He also requested time to get his medications set up before the sentence began.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes, one of the teenage victims and her mother opposed the so-called electronic home monitoring.
In a letter from the girl read aloud in court, the girl said now has trust issues with older males and has nightmares about Sands coming to attack her family.
“I feel uncomfortable if Ken’s on house arrest,” she wrote. “I’d feel better if he was in jail.”
Sands spoke to the judge, saying he regretted the events and the circumstances that led up to them.
Judge Lawler imposed 30 days in jail for each of the misdemeanors, suspending most of the rest of the sentence so Sands would for the next 10 years have the remainder of the time hanging over his head if he failed to abide by several conditions.
Four and a half years of the sentence are suspended.
He ordered Sands to be taken to jail immediately following the hearing.
“The fact that he has bi-polar disorder is not a defense,” Lawler said. “It’s something he knows about and deals with or does not deal with at his peril.”
Sands has been terminated from his bus driving position, according to Strophy.
Because of the conviction, he will have to submit his DNA to authorities but will not be required to register as a sex offender following his release.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Again. Bravo.
Oh you don’t like my 1st ammendment rights? The fact is the Centralia Police have been captured on video on audio violating my rights. Chief Berg Represents the Department and when he fails to act upon complaints this is what you can expect. And furthermore you cannot prove I posted the picture nor can you prove I own the web-site.
Dirty Cop Enforcer – all I can say is Wow! You rant about being the bigger person by keeping your conversation civil, and denounce those who resort to name calling and labeling…
Aren’t you the same person who photoshopped a picture of the Centralia Chief on your website and called him a “Fascist Police State Storm Trooper” ??
Bravo. Your hypocrisy is unbelievable.
DCE…The Sex Offender Registry is meant to inform the public of offenders who may still be a danger to the public, but who can’t be kept locked up because they ‘served their time’. Throw all the leagal interpretations out there that you want to and call yourself a defender of liberty, but bottom line, the perception is that you are defending the rights of rapists and child molesters. As such, you’re not going to get a hell of a lot of support.
No, “Dirty Cop Enforcer”, I calls ’em as I sees ’em. And I still say you might want to brush up on your legalese, since you already failed once here (your “ex post facto” bit).
Upon reading all of your comments, I take great pride in knowing you called me a “F”ing Communist… Has name calling always been an issue for you?.. Or is this how you get your point across…The use of profanity and calling me something I am not is laughable… But if that makes you the bigger person here, then more power to you. I have kept my conversations civil. You on the other hand have shown you true colors by labeling me something I am not…. 🙁
An ex post facto law (from the Latin for “from after the action” or “after the fact”) or retroactive law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions committed or relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. In reference to criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed; or it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in at the time it was committed; or it may change or increase the punishment prescribed for a crime, such as by adding new penalties or extending terms; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime more likely than it would have been at the time of the action for which a defendant is prosecuted. Conversely, a form of ex post facto law commonly known as an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts or alleviate possible punishments (for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment) retroactively. Such laws are also known by the Latin term In mitius.
A law may have an ex post facto effect without being technically ex post facto. For example, when a law repeals a previous law, the repealed legislation no longer applies to the situations it once did, even if such situations arose before the law was repealed. The principle of prohibiting the continued application of these kinds of laws is also known as Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali, particularly in European continental systems.
Some common law jurisdictions do not permit retroactive criminal legislation, though new precedent generally applies to events that occurred prior to the judicial decision. ex post facto laws are expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution. In some nations that follow the Westminster system of government, such as the United Kingdom, ex post facto laws are technically possible as the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy allows Parliament to pass any law it wishes. However, in a nation with an entrenched bill of rights or a written constitution, ex post facto legislation may be prohibited.
Is this what you needed to know?
OK, so now we go back to the point where EVERY court in the land, INCLUDING the United States Supreme Court (who has the job of interpreting the law as it pertains to the constitution), has upheld having sex offender registries.
As for saying that the sex offender registry is an “ex-post facto violation,” you might want to look up what an “ex-post facto violation” is… so let ME enlighten YOU: “Ex-post Facto” means “a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions committed or relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law.”
Furthermore, ex-post facto laws are expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution. Ergo, the sex offender registry is NOT an “ex-post facto violation.”
For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law
Either that, or you might want to go back to paralegal school, because they didn’t teach you enough there.
I will Enlighten you. It call Ex-Post Facto violation. Look it up I nned not explain to name callers.
Enlighten us, DCE…how does the Sex Offender registry violate the Constitution?
I wonder if the Dirty Cop Enforcer is on the Sex Offender list……
You only support the constitution when it supports you, you fucking communist.
Notice this man was never on the Sex Offender list. So how is placing him on any list going to protect the community? The fact is the Sex Offender Registry protects no one…I don’t support Sex Offenders, but I do support the Constitution…….