MORGANTOWN — A Morgantown man will serve three years of probation for unlawful assault.
Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Russell Clawges delivered the sentence to Logan Garrett Odom, 22, of Morgantown, at Monday’s hearing. Odom was sentenced to one to five years in a state penitentiary, suspended in lieu of the probation. He will also pay $49.90 restitution to the victim’s family for an insurance co-pay, a one-time $10 payment to the Monongalia County Victim’s Assistance Program, serve 150 hours of community service and spend three months on home confinement.
Odom previously pleaded no contest to unlawful assault, a felony. He was originally charged with second-degree sexual assault.
Stephen Fitz, Monongalia County prosecuting attorney, said the state’s facts were that the victim, a 16-year-old girl, was at a party where she was drinking and fell asleep on the house’s porch. She woke up to digital penetration by Odom, which was seen by a witness and stopped. The victim was then taken inside, and witnesses said they never saw anyone more visibly shaken than she was.
“This kind of crime changes a victim forever,” he said.
Fitz noted that Odom had not apologized and without that, no healing could begin for the victim. He said in light of the lack of remorse, he could not ask or condone an alternative sentence and asked for a sentence of one to five years in a state penitentiary.
Odom’s attorney, Gail Lipscomb, said he did not apologize because there were two versions of the events that night. She added that Odom was consistent in his testimony that everything between himself and the victim was consensual, and he would “never make unwanted advances.” She did, however, state that he never wanted to hurt anyone.
Lipscomb asked the court to use an alternative sentence of county jail, rather than state penitentiary, and suspend that for probation. She did not ask for a specific length of probation, but stated she thought Odom did not need a full five years.
She said Odom was the kind of defendant who would never appear before the court again and that the county jail sentence would matter outside of West Virginia. Pennsylvania and other commonwealth states have various degrees of felonies, and it would affect his chance at employment less if he was sentenced to jail, she said. Odom has a degree in chemical engineering from WVU, she said.
Lipscomb said she “expressed angst” about the plea agreement, but the risk of going to trial for a charge as severe as sexual assault and the significant consequences involved were contributing factors in Odom’s acceptance of the deal.
She said the state’s version of events were not accurate, and there was “no accountability for her [the victim’s] own actions.” Lipscomb said the 16-year-old was above the age of consent and that she did not represent herself as a high-schooler at the college party where she drank and smoked marijuana.
Other points raised by Lipscomb include an interview between the victim and a detective where the detective made suggestions that Lipscomb said were inappropriate.
Odom was also physically assaulted and harassed multiple times since the party, including by someone in the courtroom on Monday, she said.
The case only came to light because the hosts of the party were worried about getting into trouble for serving minors and went into “damage control,” Lipscomb said.
