Opinion ID: 901462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Rehabilitation Prospects

Text: [¶52.] A defendant's denial may be considered by a sentencing court as an indicator of whether a defendant can be successfully rehabilitated. McKinney I, 2005 SD 73, ¶12, 699 NW2d at 476-77. That is because [r]ehabilitation must begin with the offender's acknowledgment of personal fault. State v. Clegg, 2001 SD 128, ¶6, 635 NW2d 578, 580. The inability or unwillingness to accept personal responsibility may be considered by a sentencing court as an indicator that a defendant's rehabilitation prospects are limited. Id. [¶53.] In the instant case, Blair's inability to accept the seriousness of his conduct was a significant factor in the circuit court's determination of his rehabilitation prospects. The circuit court noted that without an admission by Blair as to the true nature of his conduct in filming and editing the video, rehabilitation efforts in the short term would prove futile. [14] Blair's insistence that he did not masturbate while watching the videotape was not believed by the circuit court, especially given that he had at first admitted that he had done so. The very nature of the videotape as it was edited renders it useless for any legitimate purpose, notwithstanding Blair's claim that it was done to appease his curiosity. Lacking the ability to admit his growing sexual attraction to young girls in their early teenage years and growing addiction to child pornography, an addiction some of Blair's relatives acknowledged in their letters of support to the court, the circuit court reasoned Blair would present a danger to the community that rehabilitative efforts would not alleviate in the short term. Therefore, the circuit court elected to give more weight to the penological theory of incapacitation than rehabilitation. [15]