DILLINGHAM: Two cases against Patrick R. Andrews, 23, were closed last Friday when Judge Daniel Schally sentenced him to 34 years of active jail time. Andrews, from Aleknagik, pleaded guilty last fall to raping two women.
The first assault occurred in Aleknagik in July 2012. After an alcohol-fueled party at his home, Andrews had sex with a 19-year-old relative who was passed out. She reported the rape the next day, and after a trooper investigation, Andrews was arrested.
Citing a lack of criminal history, Magistrate Monte Brice set Andrews’ bail on the felony charge at $2,500. A friend posted his bail, and he was released.
A grand jury did not indict Andrews on the charge for another three months. When the indictment came, the state did not ask to have a higher bail set, and Andrews remained free on bail.
The second victim was raped in Dillingham the following January. She told police Andrews had knocked on her door around 3 a.m., asking for a place to stay. She offered him a couch and intended to go back to bed. Instead, Andrews grabbed her, threw her onto her own bed, and forcibly had sex with her. She fought back, scratching his penis till it bled, and he eventually fled the house.
She turned over to police the bloody tissue paper he had wiped his wounds with, and a later text message conversation between herself and Andrews in which he admitted his guilt.
Andrews was arrested and has remained in custody since. In September 2014, he agreed to a plea deal with state prosecutors, but still faced up to a maximum 99 years in prison.
Both victims spoke during the lengthy, emotional hearing Friday.
The victim from the first assault said she was unsure, initially, whether or not she should report the rape since she had been drinking the night before and had chosen to stay at Andrews’ house. She was afraid that others would blame her for being raped.
“What if people tell me I should’ve been more careful? What if they tell me I shouldn’t have drank in the first place? But I came to realize that I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t allow this to happen to myself. I’m not at fault in any way. Patrick deserves all the blame, and the regret, and the shame he should be feeling,” she said.
“Patrick raped me while I was sleeping, probably with the thought that I wouldn’t wake up just because we were drinking. Well if it isn’t obvious, you couldn’t have been more wrong, and let me tell you this: you messed with the wrong woman.”
She told the judge she was “disgusted” and “discouraged” by the low bail set at Andrews' arraignment, and when she heard about the second rape that occurred while he was free on release, she felt as though she had failed.
“Because I had tried to protect other women from this malicious act,” she said.
The second victim told the judge that speaking up in court would help her on the long road to recovery.
“He terrorized me,” she said, mentioning she had been suicidal on several occasions over the ensuring two years.
She, and Andrews’ first victim, asked for a lengthy jail term.
“I’m asking you to make an example out of him, sir. I’m asking you to let me heal. I’m asking you to let this young woman beside me heal.”
The state had recommended a total of 34 years of active jail time, with 13 more suspended. Judge Daniel Schally agreed with that recommendation. Andrews will be on probation for 15 years following his sentence, and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.