Bulgarian Gets 4 Years for Sex Assault in US

A Bulgarian 63-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a mentally disabled stranger four and a half years at a park in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States.

"People cannot end prosecutions by simply disappearing," La Crosse County Circuit Judge Elliott Levine said, as cited by La Crosse Tribune.

Nikolay Prodanov was sentenced to four years in prison and six years on extended supervision.

"He preyed on a vulnerable victim in a public park," assistant district attorney Julie Nelson said. "He went to a secluded spot and sexually assaulted her. He blamed it on her, and then fled the country."

Prodanov fled to Bulgaria weeks before his July 2009 trial for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled 18-year-old woman Sept. 21, 2006.

District Attorney's office investigator Bob Muth worked for months with federal and international agencies to return Prodanov to the US.

Prodanov was eventually captured and extradited in March last year.

Prodanov fled because "he was guilty and scared to face the consequences," his attorney said Friday.

Prosecutors charged Prodanov with felony bail jumping when he appeared in court March 8, 2010, eight months after a judge issued his arrest warrant. He's been in jail since on a USD 500,000 cash bond.

"These cases have relied on so many people to hold the defendant accountable and to ensure that justice is served," Nelson said.

Prodanov pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree sexual assault and felony bail jumping while a charge of attempted second-degree sexual assault was dismissed but could be considered by the court at sentencing.

Attorneys made a joint recommendation for a four-year prison term. Prodanov must surrender his passports.

Several of his family members traveled to attend Friday's hearing, which was translated by an interpreter for Prodanov. He spoke English to his attorney and Nelson pointed out he worked at Trane Co. for seven years without an interpreter.

Prodanov, a mechanical engineer and Bulgarian military veteran, came to the U.S. at age 52 to work, his attorney Jay Englund said.

Before his arrest for sexual assault, Prodanov was a model citizen, father and husband in Bulgaria and the U.S. without a criminal past, Englund said.

Prodanov was playing basketball with his victim when they "walked hand in hand" down a park trail, where he made "horrendous criminal decisions," Prodanov's attorney said.

They kissed, removed their clothing and briefly had sex, Englund said.

Nelson argued the victim is incapable of consent, struggles to communicate and is unable to care for her self.

"If you could see inside me, you would see how much I suffer from the pain I caused (the victim) and her family," Prodanov said through the interpreter. "I understand the effects of my actions will last forever. I can only hope my guilty plea gives (the victim) and her family some peace."

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