Editorial: Plea deal in former athlete assault case reveals flaws in court system

A former UCLA water polo player accepted a plea deal last week that put him in prison for six months, forced him to attend one year of sexual assault counseling and serve two months of community service.

At face value, that punishment does not seem to let Hakop Kaplanyan off easy. But in the context of his original charges, the sentencing is yet another example of the incomprehensibly light consequences that alleged serial, violent rapists are offered in plea deals.

The original charges against Kaplanyan included forcible rape, sexual penetration by a foreign object, assault with intent to commit a felony, sexual battery, false imprisonment and possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped all charges of sexual misconduct in any form in the deal, and instead offered Kaplanyan a mild sentencing if he merely accepted a charge of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and one charge of making a criminal threat.

The plea deal reflects a systemic problem in the U.S. and California court systems. Even when evidence is strong, prosecutors can struggle to convict rapists. In the search for any kind of justice, the L.A. district attorney turned to a massively reduced set of charges and sentencing.

But in Kaplanyan’s case, three women came forward with serious allegations of rapes that were substantiated and detailed enough to result in a laundry list of horrifying charges.

The Deputy District Attorney Linda Loftfield said the plea deal was offered because some of the women did not want to testify and the case lacked forensic evidence.

Not only does this essentially let Kaplanyan off with no lasting consequences, but it allows him to potentially continue to perpetuate violence against women in the future.

After his dismissal from UCLA, Kaplanyan transferred to a community college where he was allowed to play water polo and was shamefully named the West State Conference Player of the Year. Honoring men being investigated for sexual assault, especially violent and repeated assault as Kaplanyan was, is repugnant. Because his plea deal was so lenient, he will continue to enjoy these kinds of honors and commemorations in the future.

If the DA’s office truly believes a plea deal is the right way to go in a sexual assault case – and it can be if the survivor doesn’t want to testify – then it needs to dole out deals that are a bit more difficult to swallow. At least one count of sexual misconduct should have been included in Kaplanyan’s deal, and he should have been forced to register as a sex offender.

Now, Kaplanyan can go on with his life and after a year it will be as if none of this ever happened for him. But the women he hurt will live every single day of their lives with the trauma. And without any recognition of the original charges facing Kaplanyan, more women will be put at risk.