NEWS

Deportation in 2017 for sex assault convict

Elizabeth Murray
Free Press Staff Writer
Yetha Lumumba, 27, looks toward the gallery members on the other side of the courtroom, which included his victim, before sitting down for a re-sentencing hearing Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.

A Congolese man convicted of sexually assaulting a Burlington student will face deportation in 2017 once he completes his new sentence for that charge.

Yetha Lumumba, 27, was handed a new sentence by Judge Brian Grearson on Tuesday after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled last year that Lumumba may never face deportation with his original 8-year-to-life prison sentence. They had ruled the initial sentence was "cruel and unusual punishment."

On Tuesday, Lumumba was ordered to serve eight years to life, but the sentence was all suspended except for six years and nine months to serve in prison. This sentence runs concurrent to a sentence for lewd and lascivious conduct from a separate case, for which Lumumba was sentenced in 2012, according to court papers. If all goes according to plan, Lumumba will be released from prison in 2017, and he will be sent back to the Congo, his lawyer Kelly Green said.

Grearson said he believed the sentence he gave to Lumumba reflected the seriousness of the case and the lack of remorse Grearson said Lumumba has shown for his actions.

Lumumba, a University of Vermont student, forced another UVM student to perform a sex act on him after she rejected his overtures for sex in June 2010 near the Burlington waterfront. Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Susan Hardin said the woman feared she would be raped if she did not comply.

Hardin said Lumumba has "adamantly denied" any wrongdoing throughout the case.

The victim told the court Tuesday in a statement that Lumumba had no regard for what she wanted to do, and she fears for other women who could potentially be victimized by Lumumba. The Burlington Free Press does not name victims of sexual assault without their permission. The victim in this case asked that her name continued being withheld.

"I can still remember the sinking feeling that set in when I realized what he was doing," she said. "It hit me that I might not get home that night, and I felt that if I did get home, I might not be in one piece."

Yetha Lumumba, 27, is led into Vermont Superior Court in Burlington on Tuesday for re-sentencing on a sexual assault conviction.

She added, "He was getting angrier as I resisted, and he became more persistent. ... He didn't care about the pain I was feeling, and that was really terrifying to be with someone who has no regard for you at all."

Lumumba spoke as well, apologizing for the circumstances of the case, but also speaking of his desire to be freed from jail to go back to school and get a job. Most of what Lumumba said was quiet and intelligible.

"Prison has been hard for me," Lumumba said. "I pray for the day I'm released."

Green asked the judge for a lower sentence, saying her client had long-term mental health issues that have caused him and his behavior to deteriorate. Green offered an example of her client's deterioration: Lumumba brought with him to the hearing an assortment of random papers that had nothing to do with the subject matter of the court meeting — department of education letters, a Best Buy advertisement, a plea agreement, etc.

Grearson refused to accept that Lumumba's actions were solely attributable to mental illness. He instead accepted the opinion of psychiatrist Dr. Paul Cotton, who had examined Lumumba and determined that Lumumba suffers from a personality disorder at most. Grearson also noted that while in prison, Lumumba has allegedly propositioned another inmate and exposed himself to a female guard.

"We recognize that he did apologize today, but after five years, as indicated by the victim, it's too little to late," Grearson said.

Lumumba is incarcerated at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport.

This story was first posted on Sept. 8, 2015. Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.