ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage woman was sentenced to six years in prison, with two years suspended, Friday for the sexual assault of an U.S. Air Force airman in August 2012.
Lagina Griffiths, 41, pled guilty to sexually assaulting a 25-year-old airman who was in Anchorage for training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
As part of Griffiths’ plea agreement, the three initial sex assault charges brought against her were combined and downgraded to second-degree attempted sexual assault in October 2013.
Judge Michael Spaan, who handed down Griffiths’ sentence, said her threats to contact the airman’s wife and his supervisor played a role in her sentencing. Spaan also stressed he would not hand Griffiths a weaker sentence just because she’s a woman.
Griffiths, who holds a PhD and has been married for 10 years, will remain on the sex offender registry for 15 years after her release from prison.
The prosecuting attorney handling Griffiths’ case says the sentencing today shines light on an issue that is often overlooked — male sexual assault victims.
In the dozens of pamphlets and fliers draping the walls at Standing Together Against Rape, or STAR headquarters, only one is aimed at helping male victims of sexual assault, the “1 In 6″ campaign.
“It’s another thing to show that our community does think that this is a women’s issue and its not,” said STAR direct services manager Victoria Cortez.
The Pentagon says 53 percent of reported military sexual assault victims are male. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 16 percent, or 1 in 6 males, reported sexual assault before age 18. Experts believe those numbers underplay the severity of the issue at hand because of underreporting from victims. Yet resources for male sex assault victims are sparse.
“The guilt and the shame surrounding this issue makes it more difficult for people to come forward to seek these services,” Cortez said.
Sexual assault advocates say society’s views on “macho masculinity” and common expectations of male identity contributes to the social stigma surrounding male sex assault victims.
Assistant District Attorney Jack McKenna prosecuted the case against Griffiths. Trying these cases is more difficult than typical sex assault trials because juries are not used to seeing women as sexual predators, but he says that can be overcome.
“Once anyone comes to recognize that men can be victimized just as much as women can, they are treated much the same,” McKenna said. ”There’s absolutely no reason to view the defendant’s crime in this case as being any less serious or less worthy of condemnation simply based on her gender and the gender of her victim.”
STAR offers support to female and male victims, all the same. The nonprofit runs a 24-hour crisis hotline and offers free counseling and support services for all victims.