Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993 TAG: 9304240068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWARK, N.J. LENGTH: Short
A fourth defendant was sentenced to probation and community service.
They were convicted as adults, but Superior Court Judge R. Benjamin Cohen cited their ages and the likelihood that they could be rehabilitated in sentencing three of them to youth detention.
Their 15-year sentence as young adult offenders - under age 26 with no prior record - normally carries a four-year minimum, but the sentence to a youth facility means the three could be released within 22 months if deemed rehabilitated.
Christopher Archer, 21, and Kevin Scherzer, 22, were convicted March 16 of two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault. Scherzer's twin, Kyle, was found guilty of one count. Bryant Grober, 21, was sentenced to probation for his conviction on a third-degree charge of conspiracy.
After a 23-week trial, the jury concluded that the victim - 17 years old at the time of the assault - was mentally defective and that the young men she considered friends should have known that.
by CNB