OAKLAND — Richard Thomas, 17, was sentenced to seven years in juvenile detention Friday for assaulting Sasha Fleischman in November of 2013. Thomas pled guilty to lighting the skirt of the agender teen on fire as the victim slept on an AC Transit bus.
The sentence was a result of a plea deal in which multiple enhancements were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea. Thomas was charged as an adult.
The teen was charged with felony assault, with an enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury. Thomas will be eligible for parole after five years if he complies with the terms of his sentence and demonstrates good behavior while in detention.
Fleischman, who identifies as agender, was a resident of Oakland and a student at Berkeley’s Maybeck High School at the time. While Thomas said the act was a prank, police said the attack was partially motivated by homophobia.
Debbie Crandall, the victim’s mother, described in a statement finding her child seriously injured and called the attack “a terrible, horrible thing to do.” She said that while she didn’t understand the actions of Thomas, she hoped he could learn from the incident and come out of his detention a better person.
“We don’t hate you, and we don’t want to you to come out of prison full of hate,” she said in court to Thomas.
Thomas remained silent throughout the proceedings with his head bowed, looking up only briefly when addressed by the victim’s mother.
Thomas is scheduled for a progress review in February. His behavior will be assessed again prior to his 18th birthday, and if his behavior is deemed satisfactory, his sentence may be reduced.
Defense lawyer William Du Bois, speaking on behalf of Thomas, addressed the court to say that Thomas had prepared a statement but did not feel able to deliver it at that time. Du Bois said his client had “never expressed anything except abject remorse and regret.”
Upon delivering the sentence, Judge Paul DeLucchi said the event had forever altered the lives of those involved and was a “tragedy for the family and the victim and for Thomas.”
Du Bois said his client has the opportunity to turn his life around. When asked if Thomas would be able to comply with the behavior terms of his sentence, Du Bois said he didn’t know if his client would but believed Thomas had the capacity to do so.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, the parents of the victim said the teen had “moved on” from the incident and was currently studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They expressed sympathy for the defendant’s family, with whom they have had ongoing contact.
“Your family has surely suffered as we have,” Crandall said.
Contact Isaac Smith at ismith@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @IsaacGSmith.