By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A former Hilo man was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail for molesting two of his former stepsons.
Under terms of a plea agreement, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara also sentenced Christopher Matthew Zion, also known as Matthew Hagedorn, to 20 years probation. Hagedorn pleaded guilty in November to four counts of first-degree sex assault and seven counts of attempted first-degree sex assault.
The offenses took place over a period of nearly a decade, ending in 2004. Both victims were under the age of 16 at the time, but now are now young adults.
Zion’s plea agreement was made under the state’s “expedited sentencing” law, which covers cases of incest and domestic sexual assault involving a victim under 18. A November statement from the prosecutor’s office said the intent of the law is “to accomplish an increase in criminal convictions, punishment, and deterrence, while providing better protection for potential victims, not only from sexual assault but from the trauma of being the primary witness against a family member.”
According to the statement, prosecutors consulted with the victims prior to the plea deal.
Prior to sentencing, Zion briefly thanked the court “for the opportunity to participate in this probation program.”
The judge allowed Zion, a 37-year-old math instructor at a Minnesota community college, to start serving his jail term on Aug. 10. He’s free on $10,000 bail. Conditions of Zion’s probation include undergoing sex offender treatment, registering as a sex offender, no contact with minors, no possession or viewing of pornography, no picking up hitchhikers and that he inform his employer of the sentence.
Zion went on trial in July but a mistrial was declared after prosecutors presented defense attorney Steve Strauss 59 pages of previously undiscovered police reports after opening arguments. Then-Deputy Prosecutor Kanani Laubach told the judge at the time that the reports weren’t found earlier because Matthew Hagedorn didn’t change his name to Christopher Zion until 2002.
The plea agreement did not specify a mandatory jail term, and Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Kagawa said afterwards that the state is “satisfied that the judge gave Mr. Zion one year in jail, especially based on the nature of the offenses.”
Strauss said that a “cost-benefit analysis” convinced his client to take the plea deal instead of risking a second trial.
“In this case, because of the complete lack of forensic evidence and the difficulty of disproving statements by accusers, there’s some risk, no matter what the truth is, that Mr. Zion could have been convicted at trial,” Strauss said. “The state’s agreement to enter into an expedited sentencing program … should give an indication that the state had its own doubt about the veracity of its witnesses.”
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A former Hilo man was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail for molesting two of his former stepsons.
Under terms of a plea agreement, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara also sentenced Christopher Matthew Zion, also known as Matthew Hagedorn, to 20 years probation. Hagedorn pleaded guilty in November to four counts of first-degree sex assault and seven counts of attempted first-degree sex assault.
The offenses took place over a period of nearly a decade, ending in 2004. Both victims were under the age of 16 at the time, but now are now young adults.
Zion’s plea agreement was made under the state’s “expedited sentencing” law, which covers cases of incest and domestic sexual assault involving a victim under 18. A November statement from the prosecutor’s office said the intent of the law is “to accomplish an increase in criminal convictions, punishment, and deterrence, while providing better protection for potential victims, not only from sexual assault but from the trauma of being the primary witness against a family member.”
According to the statement, prosecutors consulted with the victims prior to the plea deal.
Prior to sentencing, Zion briefly thanked the court “for the opportunity to participate in this probation program.”
The judge allowed Zion, a 37-year-old math instructor at a Minnesota community college, to start serving his jail term on Aug. 10. He’s free on $10,000 bail. Conditions of Zion’s probation include undergoing sex offender treatment, registering as a sex offender, no contact with minors, no possession or viewing of pornography, no picking up hitchhikers and that he inform his employer of the sentence.
Zion went on trial in July but a mistrial was declared after prosecutors presented defense attorney Steve Strauss 59 pages of previously undiscovered police reports after opening arguments. Then-Deputy Prosecutor Kanani Laubach told the judge at the time that the reports weren’t found earlier because Matthew Hagedorn didn’t change his name to Christopher Zion until 2002.
The plea agreement did not specify a mandatory jail term, and Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Kagawa said afterwards that the state is “satisfied that the judge gave Mr. Zion one year in jail, especially based on the nature of the offenses.”
Strauss said that a “cost-benefit analysis” convinced his client to take the plea deal instead of risking a second trial.
“In this case, because of the complete lack of forensic evidence and the difficulty of disproving statements by accusers, there’s some risk, no matter what the truth is, that Mr. Zion could have been convicted at trial,” Strauss said. “The state’s agreement to enter into an expedited sentencing program … should give an indication that the state had its own doubt about the veracity of its witnesses.”
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.