Ex-DYS staff gets 15 yrs. in prison for sex abuse of minor

Sixty-two-year-old Pedro Ilo Sablan was slapped with a 15-year prison term yesterday for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl at the Division of Youth Services shelter where he was then employed.

Sablan pleaded guilty yesterday to a count of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree as part of a plea agreement.

Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman, who presided over the case, reluctantly accepted the plea agreement, saying, “This is an egregious case.”

The judge noted that the victim is a 14-year-old girl with developmental disabilities who was placed in the DYS shelter to keep her safe from neglect, abuse, or maltreatment, yet it was at the shelter that Sablan sexually abused her.

Wiseman said he recognizes that Sablan has cooperated with the investigators and has accepted responsibility. At the same time, the plea agreement will spare the victim from public testimony, he said.

“The court will reluctantly accept this plea agreement,” he said.

Wiseman underscored the importance of imposing sufficient prison terms on sexual predators so that when they go out of prison, they are no longer capable of committing the same crimes.

He then sentenced Sablan to 30 years in prison, all suspended except 15 years, with credit for time served. Sablan must serve eight years before he is eligible for parole. He will begin serving his sentence on Dec. 12, 2011. That means he will be released at the earliest when he is already 70 years old.

After completing his sentence, Sablan will be placed on 10 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, $100 court assessment fee, plus probation fee, and restitution for the victim that will be determined later.

Sablan was also required to register as a sex offender and submit to an examination at the Community Guidance Center for psychological treatment.

Under the agreement, Sablan agreed to cooperate with the investigation and prosecution of colleagues at DYS concerning their criminal activities.

Sablan was accused of having sex with the victim from June to July 2011. He admitted to three or four instances of having sex with a DYS ward while employed there. Investigators later found out that Sablan disabled the security camera to avoid detection of his criminal acts.

The case was prosecuted by assistant attorney general Russell Lorfing.