A Vancouver man who had his sex abuse convictions thrown out last year by the Court of Appeals pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with the same case.
Osadebe M. Anene, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation relating to allegations he sexually abused a relative in 2005.
Clark County Superior Court Judge John Nichols set sentencing for July 7.
Anene faces a minimum sentence of between five years, seven months in prison and seven years, five months in prison, a significantly lower punishment than the 15 years he was given following his September 2007 trial.
The lower sentence guidelines reflect the dismissal of a first-degree rape of a child charge in exchange for the guilty plea, said Deputy Prosecutor Dustin Richardson.
Anene’s actual release date will be decided by the state’s Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board, which could keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life, even after his prison sentence is served.
“In reality, it will have similar consequences” as the first conviction, Richardson said. “The family’s happy, as I understand.”
The Court of Appeals overturned Anene’s conviction last April, saying a Clark County judge should have declared a mistrial when Anene lapsed into a coma following a suicide attempt.
After hearing testimony from the 6-year-old victim about the alleged abuse, Anene had failed to show up for his third day of trial in Clark County Superior Court.
Two hours before he was due in court, emergency personnel found the U.S. Army major in full military dress, on his back with his Bible at his side, in his east Vancouver apartment. He suffered brain damage and partial blindness from an overdose of pills.
The jury deliberated about an hour before convicting Anene of first-degree rape of a child and two counts of first-degree child molestation.
When told Anene tried to kill himself, Judge Roger Bennett cited a court rule that a defendant’s voluntary absence does not preclude a judge from proceeding with trial.
But the appellate court ruled that since Anene was unconscious and couldn’t participate in proceedings, Bennett’s decision violated Anene’s right to a fair trial.
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
