Student Jailed On Sex Assault Charge Freed After Judge Deems Him 'High Achieving'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post Australia

11/09/2019 12:26 PM AEST

University of Florida senior Ian Milaski, accused of battery and false imprisonment, was released on his own recognisance to await trial.

By Alanna Vagianos

A University of Florida senior jailed on a charge of sexually assaulting a fellow student was released last week after a judge deemed him a “high-achieving student.”

Ian Milaski, a 21-year-old resident hall assistant, was arrested on Aug. 29, after a female student called university police and accused Milaski of forcibly kissing her, pinning her onto his bed and attempting to put his fingers inside her days earlier. Milaski was jailed on charges of battery and false imprisonment, with bond set at $182,000 ($125,000 USD.)

A judge later ordered him released on his own recognizance, agreeing with an emergency defense motion that described Milaski as a “high-achieving student,” according to local outlet WCJB. The bail-reduction motion said Milaski is “slated to graduate in May 2020? with a double major, and “personally performed more than 210 hours of community service in the last two years.”

Milaski’s motion also argued that he needed to help his parents prepare for Hurricane Dorian and tend to his double major as a senior about to graduate, according to The Alligator, the University of Florida (UF) student newspaper.

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/student-jailed-on-sex-assault-charge-freed_au_5d78583fe4b09342507b4a2f?utm_hp_ref=au-world

[Massacure]

1. I'm going to side with the judge here

A college student is unlikely to make $125,000 bail, which would result in failing those semester's classes. That would likely delay graduation by a year and the GPA hit from that would almost certainly preclude the possibility of graduating with honors.

Get the facts first; there is plenty of time for punishment after the facts are presented in court.

[Phoenix61]

2. Because that's what's important?

His degree? What about her assault? Did you even bother to read the article? WTF?!?!

[SeattleVet]

3. He doesn't have to have the cash.

He (or his family) could use any number of bail bonds businesses to get him back to school, and there are a LOT of other options that judges in most jurisdictions can use, like unsecured (signature) bonds, which require no up-front cash but impose a financial penalty should the person not show up for the trial.

A simple 'release on his own recognizance' was probably not the best choice for someone charged with a sexual assault crime; none of his 'mitigating circumstances' seem to be compelling enough to have kept the judge from imposing a much stricter bail structure.

[NotHardly]

4. Massacure... it is not about ability to pay its about the damn crime... christ on a crutch.

[Massacure]

21. It very much is about the ability to pay.

That's enshrined as a right in our Constitution, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." The time to punish the crime is AFTER the guilty verdict is in. The purpose of bail is to ensure the accused shows up to trial. A person who is about to graduate with double majors and honors is not someone is likely to flee. A person who is a continued risk to society is denied bail altogether.

California recently passed a law abolishing cash bail for this very reason; though it looks like it that law is heading toward referendum courtesy of bail bondsmen.

[moriah]

6. Then get rid of bail for everyone, not just "high-achieving college students"...

... accused of attempted rape.

[Sapient Donkey]

18. That's how it should be. Not some people get special treatment because of who they are

If everyone got out with similar monitoring systems and restrictions in place, then I wouldn't see a problem with it. After all, he hasn't been convicted of a crime yet. But either we keep everyone locked up until their court dates, or we give everyone the same treatment not requiring any bail or a low nominal bail.

I would have to see the history of this judge to determine if he's playing favoritism or not. If he consistently rules in this way, then that's just him trying to do what he thinks is right. But if there is consistency in his decisions, then he's part of the problem.

[Igel]

19. My county has an issue with bail.

It's disposed of it for a lot of crimes. Provided you're poor and can't make bail.

If you have money, then you pay.

It's a sliding scale of risk x money. If you're low risk and have money, you can not pay. But if you're high risk and don't have money, you're as likely not to pay.

"Risk" is risk of flight. It's the kind of thing that makes some widely cited statistics probably flawed beyond repair: If you have no strong ties to the community, you can flee before you're even identified and caught. If you have weaker ties, you might flee only after being identified and you know they're after you. If you're low risk, you have stuff and folk that tie you down but not so much stuff or folk that you can easily be comfortably relocated by noon tomorrow.

In this thread's comments, "risk" seems to be "at risk of repeating the crime." It's not at all clear that's its meaning in the OP, where it sounds like the meaning that's generally used in legal settings.

This is where "high achieving" comes in. The kid has a strong reason to stay in the area: he's a senior, and not one at risk of failing out but one who could lose honors by being gone for even a few weeks. That means he's highly motivated to stay in the area and show up for his court date--which is the primary reason for bail. (With posing a danger to society being more a reason to deny bail, not hike the value of the bond.)

[ToxMarz]

7. Agree

Bail isn't (supposed to be) meant as a of form of pre trial punishment, it's meant to ensure defendant isn't likely imminent danger and flight risk.

[Lonestarblue]

9. He should have thought of the consequences before attacking a woman.

Far too many police and judges dismiss rape as “it’s just sex—no one is hurt.” Yes, the women attacked are hurt—both physically and emotionally. Literally thousands of rape kits sit on police shelves untested while those tests could identify serial rapists who just keep raping. Judges who identify with the “bright young men” who rape are doing no one any favors because those bright young men learn the lesson that their actions have no consequences. What seems to be immaterial to such judges is that it’s okay for a young woman to be traumatized because her feelings and her formerly bright future just are not considered, but it’s not okay for a young man’s sexual assaults to ruin his future, especially if he is white and/or wealthy.

[markpkessinger]

16. But at this point, as far as the Court is concerned . . .

. . . he hasn't committed a crime. He has merely been accused. Until he has been tried and convicted, the court is obligated to see him and treat him as if he were innocent. As someone else pointed out above, bail isn't supposed to be some kind of pre-trial punishment.

[NotHardly]

5. Yeah, boys have it so hard (no pun) when being charged with crimes...

unlike their victims who get cut all kinds of slack by the system.

You know, every time I hear of or see a judge do this shit, I would like to encourage journalists to investigate the background and character of the judge just because I remember Roy (the judge) Moore was such a neat and keen guy. (snark added as my point just in case anyone misses it.)

[Snoopy 7]

8. reasoning my a$$

Using the judges own reasoning would exonerate most SERIAL KILLERS...

[mercuryblues]

12. Correct

That is one of the reasons Bundy was not apprehended sooner. In 1974 police released a sketch and a profile, 4 women called the police hotline giving them ted Bundy's name. Police did a background check on him and determined that a clean cut, law student could not possibly be the man they were looking for. One was Bundy's girlfriend; one was Anne Rule, who worked with him at the time at a rape crisis hotline center; another was one of his professors and another a State employee.

His girlfriend called the police again after Bundy moved to Utah and murders started happening there. When she called a 3rd time the police added his name to a list of suspects, but did not take the tip seriously.

It wasn't until a police officer stopped him in 1975 because of suspicious behavior that they took a serious look at him. He was driving his Volkswagen early in the AM up and down streets. In his vehicle they found his tools.

because there was insufficient evidence tying him to the murders, they could only charge him for kidnapping. A judge released him on his own recognizance.

Between the time of the original tips in 1974 and his arrest in 1975 he committed 7 more known murders.

[obamanut2012]

10. Sorry, I am very anti-cash bail, and the judge was right

The scumbag rapist isn't a flight risk or an immediate danger to society. He should, however, be expelled immediately, because of what he did and THEN how he illegally entered the girl's dorm room to berate her.

But, we are either for or against cash bail, and I am against it. Slap a SCRAM on him and then toss him in until his trial if he breaks his SCRAM conditions.

[Firestorm49]

11. This article is dated 11/9/2019 which, without outside research, makes me suspicious.

[mercuryblues]

13. This report is from Australia

They go by month/day/year

[FiveGoodMen]

15. I think that's just because it's from Australia

Date and time notation in Australia largely follows conventions from British English, like many other aspects of Australian English. It most commonly records the date using the day-month-year format (28 August 2019), while the ISO 8601 format (2019-08-28) is increasingly used for all-numeric dates.

All-numeric date: 2019-08-28; 28/08/2019

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=2xd5Xad414T6BILzm4AB&q=date+format+in+australia&oq=date+format+in+aus&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.0l2j0i22i30l8.104.4296..5368...0.0..1.374.3398.0j12j2j4....2..0....1..gws-wiz.fCQbnPJJ8Wc#spf=1568217057536

[csziggy]

14. What worries me as much as the bail situation is that he was in a position of authority over her

And he abused that authority in more than one way. Not only did he commit battery and sexual assault by trying to kiss her against her will and by holding her without her consent, he then entered her dorm room without her permission to continue the attempted sexual assault.

'High achieving' my ass - he is a predator who used his position to commit several crimes. His achievement seems to be fooling the judge into thinking g he is a hard working student. If he is not held accountable he will continue to abuse women, especially those has Co trolling over in any way.

[Igel]

20. That's the allegations.

But it's best to remember that they are allegations. They are likely to be true, with corroborating evidence.

But before we lock somebody up and throw away the key we do at least try to have a semblance of fairness so we can continue to pretend that we're all equal before the law.

[lonely bird]

17. I will hazard a guess...

that he is not a person of color.