LIHU‘E — A 23-year-old man who had pleaded guilty to sexual assault for inappropriate contact with a minor was sentenced to five years probation, which will include a year in prison and other restrictive conditions, Wednesday in 5th Circuit Court.
LIHU‘E — A 23-year-old man who had pleaded guilty to sexual assault for inappropriate contact with a minor was sentenced to five years probation, which will include a year in prison and other restrictive conditions, Wednesday in 5th Circuit Court.
Judge Kathleen Watanabe told Wyatt Godinez the terms of his probation would be “onerous and numerous.”
The year imprisonment is the maximum she was permitted to levy as a term of probation. He will be banned from partaking in drugs, alcohol and pornography, and he will undergo counseling, polygraph tests and almost constant supervision.
“You may later wish you had been sentenced to an open five by this court,” the judge said.
Watanabe said she opted for the probation in lieu of a five-year prison sentence because Godinez’s lack of prior felony convictions could lead a parole board to release Godinez after he served just a fraction of his term. This sentence, referred to as an “open five,” is the maximum allowed by statute for a Class C felony conviction and was requested by Deputy Prosecutor Mauna Kea Trask on behalf of the victim’s family.
While Watanabe said she did not intend to undermine the parole board’s authority, she implied the probation, including the year imprisonment, would provide further safety to the community rather than a five-year prison sentence followed by parole. Furthermore, Godinez will also be added to the sexual offender registry, something Watanabe described as a “serious burden.”
“There is no remorse on your part,” Watanabe told Godinez, who did not apologize to the family in his remarks prior to sentencing. “That concerns me.”
She also told Godinez “eye to eye” that if he was brought back to court for violating terms of the probation, she would not hesitate to sentence him to the maximum term of imprisonment.
Godinez was arrested in January 2008 for his role in an incident occurring in May 2006 involving a then-14-year-old girl who was a family friend and the younger sister of the woman he had been dating for two years, according to Kaua‘i Police Department records.
In a statement to the court prior to sentencing, the victim’s father, Ricky Barnett, said Godinez knew the family would be out of town for a funeral and the assault on his young daughter was “premeditated.” He said the girl is currently on the Mainland and has been unable to move on with her life.
“Give Wyatt time to think in jail, where he belongs,” Barnett said.
However, Janice Barnett, mother of the victim, said in an interview outside the courtroom after the sentencing that she had prayed for justice for nearly three years and felt God “didn’t fail our family.”
“It’s a really good statement that these men who desire young girls … they’re not gonna get away with it,” she said. “It sets an example.”
Cheyanne Barnett, Godinez’s ex-girlfriend and sister of the victim, described him as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“I really hope he can think about what he did and change who he is,” Cheyanne Barnett said. “He’s a sick, sick man.”
Kodi Barnett, another sister of the victim, said, “Our family will never be the same again. My sister will never be the same sister I once had because of Wyatt Godinez.”
Godinez was originally charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault as well as a count of third-degree sexual assault, all based on the young age of the victim and age difference between her and Godinez. If convicted of all three charges, Godinez could have faced up to 90 years in prison.
In November 2008, Godinez pleaded guilty to the third count, which involved sexual contact — touching private parts over the clothing, Watanabe said — rather than sexual penetration and is categorized as a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The first two counts — Class A felonies — were dropped. Godinez told Watanabe in his statement to the court that he originally intended to go to trial but decided “the stakes were too high.”
Chino and Karen Godinez, father and mother of Wyatt Godinez, said Wednesday in a phone interview that their son was scared and declined to pursue the case further, taking “the easy way out.”
They said their son had been “framed” by the Barnett family and that they were planning to file a lawsuit in civil court.
“You’re guilty until proven innocent. You go into the court guilty,” Karen Godinez said of the allegations.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
