Judge upholds sentence

SANDPOINT — A 1st District judge has rejected a plea for leniency for a Priest River man who subjected a young girl to years of sexual abuse.

Judge Charles W. Hosack sentenced Dayle Scott Westra to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct with minor. Under the terms of the sentence, Westra has to serve at least two and a half years before he can be considered for parole.

Westra, 37, moved for the court to shorten the indeterminate portion of the sentence from 17 1/2 years to seven and half years, resulting in a unified sentence of 10 years instead of 20.

Westra argued in court documents that Hosack’s sentence was too excessive given his lack of a prior criminal record and because he was found to be at low risk of re-offending.

Westra asked the court to consider the financial and psychological impacts of his incarceration on his family.

Westra, who is imprisoned at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Boise, testified via telephone on Aug. 17 that a 20-year tail on his sentence was too harsh for a first-time felon.

“I realize that what I’ve done is a serious thing and I’m very sorry about it, and I’ve been seeking counseling while I’m in here,” Westra said during the hearing.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall opposed Westra’s motion for leniency, arguing that the defendant’s misdeeds fell at the “far end of the spectrum” of sexual misconduct.

“It’s this conduct, which was intentional conduct, that causes the state to take the stand that we have on this case,” Marshall said, adding that the victim’s mother failed in her duty to protect her daughter from Westra.

Judge Steve Verby, who presided over the reconsideration hearing, reviewed the record in the case and noted that Westra began molesting the girl when she was 3-4 years old and began having intercourse with her when she was 8. Westra had at one point threatened to kill her and had used a set of cargo straps to restrain her while she was being molested, Verby said.

“Under these circumstances, I do not find that the sentence is unreasonable and I decline to reduce the sentence that was imposed by Judge Hosack,” Verby said.

Westra is also appealing his sentence to the Idaho Supreme Court, court records show.