Men Sexually Assaults Sleeping Woman, Gets Probation

From: NBC Sandiego.com, CA - Nov 14, 2003

Woman Was Passed Out On Couch In Ocean Beach Hostel

SAN DIEGO -- A man who pleaded guilty to sexually battering a woman in an Ocean Beach Hostel was sentenced Friday to probation and community service.

John Bladow, 44, was initially charged with raping an unconscious person, but pleaded to the lesser charge. Bladow, a deaf mute, had a "very difficult childhood" said his lawyer, who also told the court that he was still learning how to "to act appropriately" in public.

Judge William Mudd sentenced Bladow to five years probation and 200 hours of community service for attacking the 21-year-old woman, who was locked out of her room and passed out on a couch in common space at the hostel after she drank too much.

Prosecutor Brenda Daly argued in court that the 21-year-old victim was "severely affected by what happened to her" and that the victim had done nothing wrong. Daly wanted more jail time for Bladow, who had spent two months in jail after his arrest, saying that most defendants guilty of

"There's nothing she did that was wrong," Daly told the judge.

She said most people who do what the defendant did "go to prison for a long time."

The judge, however, disagreed with her.

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