Friday, Oct. 29, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.
A 57-year-old illegal immigrant from Canada won't get an opportunity to see his homeland for at least 20 years following his sentencing for sexual assault of a minor and child pornography.
David Donald Shumey was given the 20-years-to-life sentence Thursday after he tried to place the blame on the girl's parents for leaving her with him at a low-income downtown apartment complex.
Shumey, who has eight aliases, admitted he has a "weakness" and gave in to his impulses in 1997 and 1998 while baby-sitting the girl.
District Judge Jeffrey Sobel had the choice of sentencing Shumey to a minimum of five to 20 years or a maximum 30 years to life. Deputy District Attorney Gerald Gardner sought the maximum sentence.
Shumey had plea-bargained his 88-count child pornography and sexual assault case down to one count of sexual assault of a minor and two charges of using a minor in the production of pornography.
Sobel had noted as a jury panel lined up for Shumey's June 1 trial date that the evidence left little room for a defense. Shumey reluctantly agreed that he had no choice but to take the plea bargain that will at least give him a chance at parole.
Probation for the man who has been in the United States illegally for at least 30 years was not an option since the charges require prison time.
The girl was 7 and 8 at the time of the incidents in 1996 and 1997, according to Gardner. The events didn't come to light until July 1998 when a maintenance man at a downtown motel where Shumey was living discovered an album of child porn hidden in an air conditioning vent.
The prosecutor had noted at the June hearing that the decision to offer the plea bargain was to spare the victim and the jury the sordid details.
He said the girl would be forced to re-live the events and be questioned in detail if the trial had gone ahead as scheduled.
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