Lawyers ask judge to set aside prep school grad's felony conviction so he won't have to register as a sex offender for life
- Owen Labrie, 19, was convicted in August of felonious use of a computer to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child
- St Paul's School grad was acquitted of three felony sex assault charges for having sexual contact with 15-year-old girl in 2014
- Labrie was released on $15,000 bail and will be sentenced in October as he faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison and no minimum sentence
- His lawyers filed a motion Friday saying the computer crime should be dismissed because Labrie was acquitted of rape
Lawyers for a New Hampshire prep school graduate convicted of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old classmate want a judge to either dismiss a felony conviction for using a computer to invite the girl to their encounter or keep him off a list of registered sex offenders.
Owen Labrie, 19, of Tunbridge, Vermont, was convicted last month after a high-profile trial full of lurid details that exposed a practice at the elite St. Paul's School known as Senior Salute, in which graduating students try to have sex with younger classmates.
In a motion filed Friday, lawyers said the computer crime should be dismissed because Labrie was acquitted of felony sex assault charges.
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Appeal: Lawyers for St. Paul's School graduate Owen Labrie, pictured sobbing in court in August, filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss a felony conviction for using a computer to lure a girl
Branded: After the trial, Labrie's lawyer, J.W. Carney (right), said the convictions 'forever changed' his life and will be like 'a brand, a tattoo' that will follow him
They also said legislators didn't intend the law to apply to encounters between two teenagers who already knew each other, but to adults preying on children.
Labrie, who was 18 when he met with the freshman girl in June 2014, could receive a state prison sentence of up to seven years on the computer charge, as well as having to register as a sex offender.
He was seen sobbing in court August 28 as the guilty verdicts were read by the forewoman.
'If he had merely called the 15-year-old on the telephone or spoken to her in person, there would be no additional crime,' the lawyers wrote. 'Yet because he prearranged the encounter through email and Facebook, he will be subjected to the scrutiny and humiliation of sex offender registration for the rest of his life.'
The lawyers said that amounts to a violation of the Eighth Amendment's constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Labrie, who had no criminal record prior to the August conviction, would be able to petition the court to be removed from the list 15 years after the end of his sentence.
He also was found guilty of misdemeanor sexual assault and child endangerment charges; those would put him on the list for at least 10 years before he can ask to be removed.
Free: At the conclusion of the trial August 28, Labrie (pictured center) was released on $15,000 bail
Owen Labrie talks with one of his attorneys Jaye Rancourt, right, as his parents Denise Holland and Cannon Labrie talk in the lobby before the verdict
Labrie testified that he and the girl had consensual sexual contact but he denied having intercourse. On the right, the teen shows the court how he undressed the freshman
He faces anywhere from probation to 11 years in prison when he's sentenced October 29. Labrie is currently out on $15,000 bail.
After the trial, Labrie's lawyer, J.W. Carney, said the convictions 'forever changed' his life and will be like 'a brand, a tattoo' that will follow him.
Messages left for prosecutor Catherine Ruffle weren't immediately returned Friday afternoon.
Labrie had been accepted to Harvard University and planned to take divinity courses. He testified that he and the girl had consensual sexual contact after he invited her to participate in Senior Salute, but he denied having intercourse.
Labrie - who was the sole defense witness in the case - said that he stopped short of sleeping with the girl because he did not want to have sex with her.
The girl acknowledged going willingly with Labrie to a remote academic building on the Concord campus two days before graduation last year but said she was unprepared when he became aggressive.
The ugly truth: Labire's trial exposed a practice at the elite St. Paul's School in New Hampshire known as Senior Salute, in which graduating students try to have sex with younger classmates
'I said no three times,' she testified. 'In that moment, I don't know how I could have made it any more clear.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3214553/Owen-Labrie-not-guilty-main-rape-charges-St-Paul-s-School-trial.html#ixzz3m7Oej4hh Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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