By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Winlock man convicted last year following his identification through DNA as the prime suspect in a previously unsolved sexual assault in a campground restroom of little girl is asking a judge if he may withdraw his guilty plea.
Reginald L. Juntunen, now 25, was sent to prison a year ago for 25 years to life after making a deal with prosecutors his new attorney says was not fair.
[1]Reginald L. Juntunen
Seattle-based defense lawyer Mitch Harrison said the request comes about based mostly on the inclusion of the so-called aggravating factor, that the offense was predatory.
“The aggravator is really meant for the worst of the worst, and Reggie, he’s not that,” Harrison said this afternoon.
Harrison was in Lewis County Superior Court today to set a date for the hearing. It is scheduled for Jan. 31 in front of Judge Richard Brosey.
Juntunen was enrolled in Lewis County Drug Court when he was charged last summer. He pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation in connection with a 2007 attack on an 8-year-old girl at a Mossyrock area campground.
Harrison said his client’s previous attorney ought to have provided mitigating evidence to try to get a deal with much less time. In his motion, he states Juntunen shows absolutely no indicators of being a sexual deviant outside the one incident.
Juntunen’s goal is not to escape punishment, but to obtain a more reasonable sentence, he said.
Harrison said he understood the deputy prosecutor believed including the aggravating factor – which mandated the lengthy sentence – was mandatory, but it’s not.
“The Supreme Court about a month before he was charged said it was discretionary,” Harrison said.
Without it, the sentence for that offense would be something more like 10 years, or even a special sentencing alternative, he said.
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For background, read “Winlock High School grad gets 25 plus years for molestation” from Wednesday December 12, 2012, here [2]