Five-year sentence ordered in rape case

Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A Centralia man was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for his role in the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in May.

Havrum

Michael Lee Havrum, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree statutory rape last month shortly before his jury trial was to begin in Boone County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors dismissed a second charge of second-degree statutory sodomy in exchange for his plea.

Havrum’s public defender, Kevin O’Brien, asked Circuit Judge Gene Hamilton to give Havrum a reduced three-year sentence with the condition he successfully complete a sex offender rehabilitation program in a state Department of Corrections facility. O’Brien said Havrum was not a "serial rapist" but had made a "serious mistake."

Hamilton sentenced Havrum to the state-recommended five-year sentence with the conditional rehabilitation program.

Havrum likely will be evaluated at the Sexual Offender Assessment Unit at the Farmington Correctional Center, a 120-day residential program that assesses potential risks to the community and sex offender treatment for release considerations.

Havrum is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on May 18, 2007, in an abandoned trailer home at 111 Eastside Drive in Centralia.

Ashland police said the girl, identified only as T.W., had left her home, drank with a friend and then met up with the two suspects.

Havrum told police he and the other suspect engaged in oral sex with the juvenile victim, and police said he "bragged about having sex with young girls," according to court documents.