An Everett woman who posed as a boy to sexually molest a teenage girl was sentenced to a year in jail Thursday at a hearing where the victim was spared something she hoped to avoid – another trip in front of television cameras.
Lorelei J. Corpuz, 30, apologized for the harm she’d caused the girl and promised to seek treatment.
“I know this is a big lesson for me and it is not something I want to do again,” she told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry.
A traffic stop in April led to Corpuz’s exposure as a gender-bending impostor who passed herself off as a 17-year-old boy named “Mark Villanueva.” Her case attracted international attention.
“I got calls from people overseas on this case. It was insane,” deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said.
The law protects young people because they “are impressionable. They can be led by adults and they tend to trust most adults,” Roe said.
Corpuz wasn’t the only adult who took advantage of the girl, Roe said.
Even before detectives had a chance to interview her, “there was a race of TV trucks to the victim’s house,” Roe said.
The girl’s parents are immigrants from Vietnam who speak little English. Some reporters persuaded the girl to appear on camera and talk about Corpuz. Although steps were taken to obscure the girl’s identity, people in her neighborhood and school connected her to the case, according to court documents.
The girl sent the judge a letter describing her anger at Corpuz and the unkind treatment she and her family have received as a result of the attention. She opted not to speak in court on Thursday.
Judge Castleberry told the teen she should not blame herself.
“You did nothing wrong,” he said. “You shouldn’t be ashamed at all about anything that occurred. This was not your fault.”
Corpuz’s sentencing originally had been scheduled for June 18, but the date was moved up.
Roe on Thursday told the judge that Corpuz’s guilty plea eliminated the need for a trial and spared the girl and her family more television exposure, which they hoped to avoid.
“I certainly had to consider the circus atmosphere that had surrounded the crime when it came to light to begin with,” he said.
The sentence handed down by Castleberry is the maximum punishment under state guidelines.
Corpuz met the girl, now 16, at an area mall in September 2005. Corpuz admitted sexual contact with the teen. It is against the law for anyone 19 or older to have sexual contact with a 15-year-old.
Corpuz’s attorney, public defender Danica Comstock, told the judge that her client still expects to be charged with alleged financial crimes and may face more time behind bars.
Everett police say they’ve been investigating at least six incidents in which Corpuz allegedly forged checks for money, in some instances allegedly passing herself off as Mark Villanueva.
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