T.F. woman sentenced to life for lewdness charge

By Ali Helgoth - Elko Daily Free Press | Posted: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 1:00 am

ELKO, Nev. — A Twin Falls woman convicted of forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch her breasts was sentenced Monday to life in prison.

Michelle Lyn Taylor, 34, was convicted of lewdness with a minor under 14 in November after a week-long trial in Elko County, Nev., District Judge Mike Memeo’s courtroom.

With the conviction, Taylor faced a mandatory life sentence, and Memeo set parole eligibility after 10 years, the minimum sentence. If released on parole she must register as a sex offender and will be under lifetime supervision.

The district attorney’s office did not offer a plea agreement in the case, said public defender Alina Kilpatrick, who argued the sentence is unconstitutional and doesn’t fit the crime.

“The jury was not allowed to know the potential sentence in this case and the Legislature doesn’t know the facts,” she said, alluding to the minimum sentence set by the Legislature in Nevada Revised Statute.

Kilpatrick said despite the parole eligibility after 10 years, there should be no mistake that it’s a life sentence for Taylor.

“She is getting a greater penalty for having a boy touch her breast than if she killed him,” she said.

After he sentenced her, Memeo said he was bound by state statute to impose the life sentence, but said he isn’t sure why the prosecution chose to charge her under that statute.

District Attorney Gary Woodbury could not be reached for comment.

Taylor, who lived in Jackpot, Nev., at the time of the crime, kissed a friend’s child, forced him to touch her breast and asked him to have sex with her in February 2008.

Taylor claimed she was intoxicated and doesn’t remember what happened that night. She told jurors she roughhoused with the boy, but didn’t force him to touch her inappropriately.

Man arrested in Nevada on felony warrant

A Twin Falls man wanted on kidnapping and drug charges was arrested Friday on a warrant at Barton’s Club 93 casino in Jackpot, Nev.

Timothy L. Craig, 50, was located by an Elko County sheriff’s deputy based on information distributed by the sheriff’s office’s terrorism liaison.

“(Twin Falls law enforcement) thought he was headed our way,” Undersheriff Doug Gailey said.

Gailey said the information was distributed throughout the various law enforcement entities in the county, and it eventually paid off in Jackpot.

Craig’s felony warrant is for $75,000.

From: http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/article_441731b0-5a17-5b4f-8890-a70bc318ae88.html