Christopher Davis of Los Alamos arrives Thursday for his sentencing hearing before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in First Judicial District Court. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

Assistant Attorney General Anthony W. Long at Thursday’s sentencing hearing in Santa Fe for Christopher Davis of Los Alamos. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

Christopher W. Davis of Los Alamos was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday by First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer following a lengthy hearing.

Davis was arrested in January on a warrant from the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General after a fourth violation of the conditions of his release. Davis had contacted what he believed to be a 16-year-old Missouri girl online and subsequently sent “her” a package containing a doll and jewelry. The behavior itself was not illegal but was in violation of the Court’s orders.

Davis had been charged with some 22 sexual offenses against minors, mostly in 2014, including 10 charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor child aged between 13 and 16.

In February he was granted probation under a plea agreement reached by Assistant Attorney General Anthony W. Long and Defense Attorney Dorie Biagianti Smith when he pleaded guilty and faced between one to 10 years in prison. 

At Thursday’s hearing, Long said the family of one of the victims had expressed clear frustration with the justice system.

“We’ve done what we can to help them through this process. We’ve had some successes and we’ve had some failures,” Long said. “The only thing I can do is apologize for any misunderstandings that happened to them, but you can see from their written statements that these criminal events have consumed them. It’s hopeful that after today they will be able to move on.”

Long presented the court with a binder containing a summary of thousands of texts sent by Davis to multiple juvenile victims asking the court to consider what was said in them, who it was said to, the number of texts and the ages of the recipients. Long referenced specific texts from Davis to more than a dozen minor females with sexual references, professions of love, proposals of marriage and threats that he would commit suicide used to manipulate them.

He showed the court a calendar indicating that Davis had maintained this type of contact with up to five minor females at given times. He said Davis spent up to five hours a day searching online for young women.

“That’s a part-time job, your honor,” Long said. “He has declined to become a functioning member of society … instead he has chosen to become a child predator and child pornographer.”

He referred to a report by Dr. Moss Aubrey, a psychologist who specializes in forensic psychological evaluation and sex offender risk assessment, saying that Moss called Davis a moderate risk. He said he has seen hundreds of assessments by Moss noting a low to moderate risk but this was the first one he had seen indicating the defendant was a moderate risk.

“I don’t particularly like hired guns; I don’t like expert witnesses that say what you are paying them to say,” Long said.

Long asked Judge Marlowe Sommer to impose the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison with 14 years as an additional suspended sentence.

“Factoring in good time, this will ensure the public is safe from the defendant for almost five to eight and a half years depending on what the Court decides on whether sexual penetration of a minor charges are violent offenses or not,” he said.

Michael Wallington, a counselor for Los Alamos Family Council, testified by telephone on Davis’s behalf saying he hoped there was something different that could be done for Davis other than incarcerate him in a prison environment. He said after Davis returned from his 60-day evaluation at the New Mexico Department of Corrections in Los Lunas, there was a notable increase in post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression issues. He said Davis has been very committed to addressing issues but he feared that prison could create “more problems, which could lead to continuation of the issues and the sex offending issues”.

Biagianti Smith said reports on Davis indicated he has an intense need for love and interaction with people.

“It’s not so much the sexual component. He needs to be around and have communication with individuals,” she said.

Biagianti Smith said the two victims of sexual penetration were 15 and her client was 21, adding, “if there was a couple of years difference”. She stressed that she was not blaming the victims but alleged that the two girls were in a relationship together.

She said Davis is taking full responsibility for his actions, that he is a victim of abuse himself and that he believes his behaviors can all be addressed in rehabilitation. She said Aubrey’s report indicated Davis has no interest in prepubescent females and there was no indication of pedophilia.

Biagianti Smith said Davis has mental health issues more complex than most sex offenders and that he is not a good candidate for prison. She said he has evolved during the process and now understands the ramifications of his behavior.

Long said if Davis felt he was in a consensual relationship with a victim it was not true.

“It’s not true because adults don’t get to enter into consensual relationships with children,” he said.

Long asked the Court to consider the number of times Davis had shown he is not a candidate for probation, that as a multi-state sex offender at 25 years of age, he needs a period of punishment and rehabilitation.

Biagianti Smith asked the court to allow Davis to spend a year at the Los Alamos County Detention Center.

Davis himself addressed the court prior to sentencing expressing deep regret for his immature and impulsive choices. He apologized to the Court, the community as a whole for their discomfort and the tax dollars spent on him and to his family. He apologized for the turmoil to the victims’ lives and for the embarrassment and hurt he caused to them.

In handing down her verdict Judge Marlowe Sommer said Davis had put forward that he was contacting the victims for friendship but that the graphic and consistent nature of his contact with them belies that. She pointed out the six to seven year age difference between Davis and the victims, and that although reports indicated that he is not a pedophile because he is not interested in prepubescent females, it doesn’t mean he is not a predator.

Judge Marlowe Sommer said she watched how Davis struggled with the Internet even though his conditions of release dictated that he could not use it and how he had contacted an 18-year-old boy who he thought was a 16-year-old girl. She said she was concerned by his impulsivity and opportunistic behavior, that she had watched how he can’t control his behavior.

“I’m not comfortable I can keep the community safe without a period of incarceration,” she said.

Judge Marlowe Sommer said Aubrey’s report indicated that Davis needs very specialized treatment if he is to remain at a moderate risk level. She said Davis needs to be closely supervised, that he already was on the highest level of conditions of release and cannot remain in the community.

​Following the hearing, Long said he was pleased with the eight-year sentence.

​“Attorney General Hector Balderas remains committed to the protection of all children from predators,” he said. “I hope today’s sentence will allow the victims and their families to begin the closure process.”

Defense Attorney Dorie Biagianti Smith enters the courtroom Thursday for the sentencing hearing for Christopher Davis. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com