PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — It was a negotiated agreement that would have allowed 56-year-old Kevin Darcell Blanks to be released from jail.
Blanks, a longtime mental health technician, was charged with felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges for the sexual assault of an 18-year-old patient, who was being treated at Pontiac General Hospital for depression and bipolar disorder.
But in a negotiated deal with prosecutors, Blanks agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault in exchange for probation.
It was a deal that the victim's father agreed to in order to avoid interrupting his daughter's treatment and her having to testify at trial.
The deal struck is called a Killebrew, which allows a defendant to withdraw a plea if they do not like the sentence handed down by a judge.
And in an Oakland County courtroom Monday, it was clear Judge Daniel Patrick O'Brien did not like the terms of the deal.
O'Brien first asked the victim's father if he agreed with the deal.
"No, sir," Patrick, the victim's father, replied. 7 Action News is not using Patrick's last name to protect the identity of his daughter.
"To me, this is unforgivable," Patrick said.
Ali Koussan of Koussan Law, who is representing the family in what may be a lawsuit against Blanks and Pontiac General, said, "He only accepted a plea agreement where there was no jail time because he didn't want to further put his daughter through any trauma and the additional trauma of a criminal trial."
O'Brien then sentenced Blanks to a year in jail for the misdemeanors and five years probation. He then asked the lawyer representing Blanks if his client wished to withdraw his plea.
Blanks said no.
Blanks will also have to register as a sex offender among other things. He was given credit for the 102 days he's already served.
Blanks being returned to jail to complete a year was a relief to the father of the victim.
"The judge went above and beyond to get justice served," Patrick said. "This is unforgivable for this to happen to my daughter in a facility I sent her for treatment."
But this isn't the end of it for Blanks or Pontiac General Hospital as Koussan is poised to file a lawsuit against Blanks and Pontiac General.
"We're going after all responsible parties," Koussan said. "Not only Mr. Blanks on the civil end, but the hospital and anybody else who's responsible for the actions that happened there."
