Opinion ID: 780248
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Multiple Assaults

Text: 70 Comment 5 to § 2A3.1 of the Criminal Sexual Abuse Guideline, in effect at the time Hefferon was sentenced, provides that, 71 if a defendant was convicted (A) of more than one act of criminal sexual abuse and the counts are grouped under § 3D1.2 (Groups of Closely Related Counts), or (B) of only one such act but the court determines that the offense involved multiple acts of criminal sexual abuse of the same victim or different victims, an upward departure would be warranted. 72 U.S. SENTENCING GUIDELINES MANUAL, § 2A3.1 cmt. 5 (2000). Pursuant to this comment, the district court departed upward two levels because it found the offense at issue involved multiple acts of criminal sexual abuse of the same victim. As stated by the district court, [f]irst [the Defendant] coerced her to touch his penis, then he essentially let her go, only to coerce her again. On the second occasion he not only coerced her to touch his penis[,] he also forced her to perform oral sex on him. The district court did not err in determining that Hefferon's offense involved multiple acts of criminal sexual abuse of the same victim. See United States v. Jefferson, 258 F.3d 405, 411 (5th Cir.2001); see also Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. 193, 112 S.Ct. 1112, 117 L.Ed.2d 341 (1992) (Although the Act established a limited appellate review of sentencing decisions, it did not alter a court of appeals' traditional deference to a district court's exercise of its sentencing discretion... The development of the guideline sentencing regime has not changed our view that, except to the extent specifically directed by statute, `it is not the role of an appellate court to substitute its judgment for that of the sentencing court as to the appropriateness of a particular sentence.') (citation omitted).