Sex offender sentenced to minimum of three years in Burns Park attack
A sex offender who cut off an electronic monitoring device and attempted to sexually assault a woman in Ann Arbor's Burns Park neighborhood in December was sentenced today to a minimum of three years in prison.
Bobby Lenord Beach, 29, of Ypsilanti Township, previously pleaded no contest to unarmed robbery and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charges.
Under the sentence, he could spend a maximum of 15 years in prison. Beach shook his head as deputies escorted him into the courtroom and told Washtenaw County Circuit Judge David Swartz he wasn't aware he was convicted on a sex charge.
"What's the charges?" Beach asked Swartz. "I thought the charge was only unarmed robbery. I just want to know what I've been sentenced to."
Swartz said, "I haven't sentenced you yet."
Swartz reminded Beach the charges were discussed at a prior proceeding and said he was "totally convinced" Beach knew exactly what he was talking about.
"I didn't know," Beach said at one point. "I just didn't know. I'm asking questions. No disrespect."
Beach is convicted of attacking a 22-year-old woman near South Forest Avenue and Wells Street shortly after 9 p.m. Dec. 12, south of University of Michigan's Central Campus.
Ann Arbor police have said the woman was approached by a man armed with a kitchen knife as she walked on South Forest Avenue.
He forced her up against a home, robbed her of $15, and tried to pull down her leggings to sexually assault her. He fled when she screamed.
Beach was arrested by officers who saturated the area after the woman ran to her residence and called 911.
Beach was convicted in 1999 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving an incapacitated victim, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He was one of three men convicted of sexually assaulting a drunk 16-year-old girl in an Ypsilanti home in April 1999.
Beach was paroled in the spring of 2008 and lived with a relative in the area. Authorities say he ditched his electronic monitoring device in late October 2008, then attacked the woman in December.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at leehiggins@annarbor.com or 734-623-2527.
Comments
John Hritz
Tue, Oct 6, 2009 : 1:14 p.m.
@chapmaja has a very good point. How does someone cut off a tether and not immediately be subject to arrest?
RhondaM
Sun, Oct 4, 2009 : 11:24 p.m.
I am very bothered how the repeat offenders get off so "easy", these short sentences do not give them any reason to think twice about committing another crime.
ownrdgd
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 3:41 p.m.
Hey! The felons know that they can do as they want in washtenaw county and do almost zero hard time.If melinda morris was the sentenceing judge the dude would be out on the street on PROBATION
Wolverine3660
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 10:11 a.m.
I hope he is sentenced to a much longer term.
Jim Knight
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 9:54 a.m.
A comment was removed because it contained a personal attack.
TrappedinMI
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 9:10 a.m.
If he truly did this, this is a very sad, sad story. Three years! Come on! This guy is sick and needs to go away probably forever to keep society safe. Who will be his next victim when he gets out? Maybe it won't go as well the next time. Phillip Garrido ringing any bells?
miranda
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 8:35 a.m.
no he didnt do it im really discusted how all yall people seem to have wrongfull comments about a man yall dont even know
11GOBLUE11
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 7:21 a.m.
I think we should all just count our belssings that Melinda Morris wasn't the judge, or the sentence would likely have been significantly less. Classic reading for any fans of Melinda Morris. http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/09/man_avoids_prison_for_second_t.html
chapmaja
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 6:28 a.m.
How exactly does he cut off the monitoring device in late October 2008 and he isn't apprehended until after the December attack? Wasn't cutting off the monitoring device enough grounds to arrest him for a parole violation and stop this attack from happening? Let me guess, because he cut it off at home, the police really thought he was just spending all his time on the couch at home right. They thought he just never left the house thus the reason his monitoring device never indicated a problem.
Billy
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 7:58 p.m.
Oh look...another example of recidivism at it's finest.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 5:10 p.m.
Only three years for this? Our system is hopelessly broken.
miranda
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 8:34 a.m.
you really need to get a life