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Gerlach Found Guilty on All Counts

By Gia Vang

 

EUGENE, Ore. -- Guilty, not insane.  That's the verdict against the man who admitted to kidnapping and raping a young Eugene girl. The jury found Malcolm Gerlach guilty on all counts Wednesday.

 

This came after his defense failed to prove he suffered from a mental disease during the time of the incident last January.

 

Before the verdict was read, the defense and prosecution teams tried a final time to sway jurors.

 

Gerlach's attorney Rebecca Davis asked jurors to look at the defendant's history of a broken family, sexual abuse and years of medication.  Those were all factors Davis and her expert witnesses said led Gerlach to suffer from dillusions and commit crimes.

 

"He did it to make the voices quiet.  He's a person who's been begging for help since he was 16," she said.

 

But state prosecutor Erik Hasselman alleges Gerlach did those things while sane.  He said Gerlach's defense was, "... the latest strategy that this defendant has employed in an effort to avoid accountability."

 

Hasselman also cited Gerlach has never raised an insanity defense in and of his prior offenses.

 

He said Gerlach's planned actions mean he knew exactly what he was doing.

 

Gerlach kidnapped the girl while she was riding her bike in the Santa Clara area. He raped her and then led police on a car chase. Since then, he confessed to all of his crimes.

 

Gerlach will now go to prison, instead of a state hospital. A hearing date for his sentencing is set for next January.

 

Comments

Child rape verdict

I'm so glad to hear that this menace to society has been removed from our streets. For once, a slick attorney didn't get a bad guy off with a slap on the hand. I hope the other guys that live where he is going show him a good time!!!

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