Summary: A couple who had sex in public in Bradenton have been sentenced.
The couple prosecuted for having sex in public at Bradenton Beach are both grateful for their relatively light sentencing, with the 20-year-old Elissa Alvarez receiving no sentence, and the 40-year-old Jose Cabellero receiving 2 ½ years – but both are balking at the other stipulation: that they register as sex offenders.
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The mollified Alverez, who has history in the Bradenton area, reports the trial as an ordeal, humiliating, but to register as a sex offender would be too much. As her defense attorney Greg Hagopian said, “We have a 20-year-old young lady who made some poor choices and the consequences, which she never, ever intended; she never intended for this to hurt anybody, for any children to be involved – and now she has to live with this the rest of her life. She’s been designated a sex offender for the rest of her life, as it stands now, she has to report and be treated as a child molester.”
She will explore appealing the case, he further stated.
Caballero also appreciates the relatively light sentencing, considering a maximum 15 year prison sentence was possible, and unlike his younger cohort, he has a criminal history, including 8 years spent in prison for cocaine trafficking. His defense attorney, Ron Kurpiers, said he was not prepared to proceed with his client’s sentencing.
“We’d be stupid not to agree to that, but there are some other factors. The whole sex offender thing is a big issue. A period of probation is an issue that we still have to talk about to see if we can work it out,” said Kurpiers. “The family has a right to be here. Mr. Caballero has a right to have his friends here and we still have things in the works.”
Presumably “things in the works,” will involve being branded with the stigmata of “sex offender,” which both individuals are eager to avoid, perhaps even more so than time served.
News Source: Bradenton
