Connecticut man accused of sexually abusing a teenager refuses to settle

A Connecticut man who allegedly took a teenage girl to a relative’s basement and sexually abused her despite her pleas to stop must choose between a five-year prison sentence and a risky trial.

Aaron Davis, 31, of Middletown, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday during a virtual hearing in New Britain Superior Court, but he backed out at the last minute when a judge told him he might not receive credit for time he has already spent behind bars.

In April, Davis pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault as part of the Alford plea. The Alford plea means he denies some of the charges but believes prosecutors likely have enough evidence to convict him at trial.

According to prosecutors, Davis, then 27, corresponded with a 14-year-old girl on Instagram in January 2020 before picking her up from her home. The girl did not tell her parents she would be with him, but instead said she was going to a pajama party, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege Davis drove the girl to his relative’s house and took her to the basement, where he sexually assaulted her. The girl asked him to stop, but he allegedly held her arms and continued, prosecutors said.

The girl later reported the incident and was taken to a nearby hospital where a rape kit was used.

Davis’ attorney, Christopher Eddy, said during the hearing that his client had pleaded Alford because he disagreed with some of the prosecutors’ allegations. He acknowledged that “scientific evidence” links Davis to the incident.

The deal Davis accepted called for a 20-year prison sentence, suspended after serving five years in prison – nine months of which is a mandatory minimum due to the charges – followed by 15 years of probation. He would also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years and would receive a lifetime protection order prohibiting him from having any contact with the victim.

Prosecutors said the deal was a “fair” settlement given the evidence linking Davis to the attack and that the agreement spared the victim the trauma of having to take the witness stand.

Davis had expected sentencing on Wednesday, but then Judge Maureen Keegan told him there was no guarantee he would receive credit for the time he spent in prison while his case was being heard.

Keegan said Davis had previously been sentenced in Middletown Superior Court in another context, and all of his prison time counted toward that sentence.

Prosecutors had originally offered a prison sentence in the sexual assault case, with parole after eight years, but reduced the sentence because they knew Davis might not get credit for time already served, Keegan said.

“If I had known that, I would never have accepted that confession,” Davis said. “I was never told that.”

“This is crazy,” he said.

During the hearing, which Davis attended via a video conferencing platform, he told Keegan that he believed the three years he spent in prison would count toward the five-year sentence that would soon await him.

Keegan told Davis that the Connecticut Department of Correction ultimately makes the decision about how long the prison sentence will be. She stopped the sentencing process just before the prison sentence was imposed and encouraged Eddy to find out more about how much prison credit Davis will receive.

Keegan adjourned the case until next Tuesday and told Davis that he must be prepared to face sentencing that day or, Keegan said, he could withdraw his Alford plea and go to trial.

Davis is being held on $300,000 bail while he awaits sentencing.