Duayne Peters sentenced to 30 years for rape

30 years for raping a girl living with him. Defendant Duayne Peters learned his fate in the Superior Court of Guam today. The victim, now an adult, also speaking out and facing her abuser in the courtroom. 

Peters, a convicted child rapist,  will spend three decades in the Department of Corrections prison. The abuse happening over several years.  Peters spent the past three years waiting to learn his fate before Judge Arthur Barcinas.

During sentencing today, peters sat beside his attorney, Joshua Walsh, as defense asked the court for leniency. "Given the single victim in this case, the lack of statutory legal authority tailored to this specific situation that says we must go consecutively, an unblemished prior record of the defendant, the fact that the government saw fit to let out a woman out on the same charge, in the same sexual acts, in order to get this conviction," he argued.

It was last August, a jury found Peters guilty of five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and a special allegation of a vulnerable victim.

Prosecuting attorney Christine Tenorio argued that Peters serve life, saying, "I worked this case for years before it went to trial...Your Honor had witnessed himself that the trauma. I don't believe I have ever witnessed a victim this traumatized as this and i think it's because what the defendant did to her during these tender years of her life. It doesn't matter that there was only one victim in this case...He was doing something since 2012 according to the jury...It doesn't mean his record is blemish-less. It's you were committing crimes for eight years and nobody found out because that is the nature of these types of crimes."

As KUAM News reported, Peters along with his wife, Natasha Peters, was convicted for  sexually assaulting a child from March 2012 to January 2019. The victim was about 11-years-old when the abuse began. 

Natasha, who pleaded guilty to criminal facilitation of first degree criminal sexual conduct, was placed on one year unsupervised probation - spared jail time.  She testified against Duayne at his trial and has since reconnected with the victim.

During today's sentencing, the victim, now an adult, addressed her abuser. "Yes, you stole a part of me that I can never ever get back but I am still here. You don't get to linger in the back of my mind anymore. You don't get to scare me because I made it. I never needed you. I am strong enough to handle the PTSD," she said.

"I already turned my life around. But you get to sit in a cell and hopefully rot in there. I can't wait to see your face and read your name on the sex offender registry where you belong. You and every predator like you deserve far worse than to be behind bars but at least now I know that you'll never hurt another woman again."

The victim’s husband also addressed the court, saying, "This is something that has been very, very difficult to bear with throughout the course of our lives that both [my wife] and I have dealt with everything, you name it, talking to multiple therapists speaking to different people, the entirety of this case itself, has caused us to, not only for her to relive it, but also for me, to be the best person I can be to help her get through it.

"And the actions of Mr. Peters...will never be excusable. There will there will never ever be a reason why someone should commit crimes as he did."

Peters, who has been out of prison for two years, was ordered by the court to self-surrender to the local prison. 

The judge gave Peters two-and-a-half weeks to get his affairs in order before then. Peters must also register as a Level I Sex Offender.