19-YEAR-OLD MAN RAPED BY 17-YEAR-OLD FORMER GIRLFRIEND

Woman accused of raping man at knifepoint when she was 17 gets
probation

By Michael Kransz

MLive
November 21, 2017

SAGINAW, MI -- The 18-year-old woman accused of raping a man at knifepoint earlier this year will spend the next five years on probation and 25 years on the sex offender registry.

Lestina Marie Smith was sentenced Monday afternoon, Nov. 20, by Circuit Judge Andre R. Borrello on one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony.

In addition to probation and registry, Borrello ordered Smith to complete sex offender treatment, have no contact with the 20-year-old victim and pay the victim $1,000 for damages done to his vehicle and its contents.

Borrello also ordered 313 days in jail with credit for 313 days served. Smith will spend the next year on GPS tether.

Smith initially faced life in prison on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. She pleaded no contest Sept. 13 to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Smith was 17 years old when she raped a 19-year-old man in his car, videotaped part of the incident and threatened him with a steak knife Jan. 11, the man previously testified.

The pair had dated for about two months in late 2016, according to the man's testimony.

Smith's attorney, James F. Gust, said the sentence fits the situation.

The biggest factor, he said, is the man wrote a letter to Borrello asking the judge to not send Smith to prison.

Mental health issues, lack of criminal record and other circumstances were additional mitigating factors, Gust said.

"Never in dealing with her, never did she appear to be someone who is a threat to society," he said.

Gust said if the offender were a male and the situation was the same, the sentence would still fit the crime.

The incident

The Jan. 11 incident in the driveway of Smith's step-sister's Saginaw Township home evolved from a dispute over a sex tape, Gust said.

"He allegedly had a sex tape that he was going to put out on social media," Gust said. "She wanted to make one with him so that she would have one to keep him from putting his out there."

Attorneys previously asked the man if Smith wanted to meet him that night because she wanted to delete the video of them having sex stored on his phone.

The victim testified he didn't know, but that she did delete it, either that night or in the days before.

Once the man arrived in the driveway, Smith hopped in his car, berated him, called him names and recorded with her cellphone, he previously testified.

She began punching him and, eventually, pulled a steak knife from her sleeve and stabbed him in the arm and poked him under the eye with it, he testified.

The stab to the arm did not pierce skin but did put a hole in his leather jacket, he stated.

The man said he was locked in the car and couldn't call for help, as his phone and keys were taken by Smith, he testified.

At some point, Smith told him to get into the back seat, he said.

The man described Smith holding him at knifepoint and forcing him to perform oral sex on her as she took a cell phone video.

Saginaw Township Police Officer David West testified he responded to the incident that night and saw the video.

Smith told him she used the knife to scare the man, West testified.

The man testified that Smith forced him to perform sexual intercourse at knifepoint.

After that, she began to stab his car seats and dashboard and cut up his high school graduation tassel, he testified.

Smith returned his keys and he drove to a nearby gas station, where he called police, he testified.