(Stillwater, Okla.) — An Agra man — who admitted that he walked up to a female shopper in a Stillwater Walmart parking lot and grabbed her breast — was placed on one year’s probation this week with conditions that include serving four weekends in the Payne County Jail.
Justin Lee Tanner, 27, was originally charged with sexual battery, a felony which was dismissed Tuesday before he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of outraging public decency that is a misdemeanor.
In a plea bargain approved by District Judge Phillip Corley, Tanner was ordered to report to the Payne County Jail by 4 p.m. tomorrow to begin serving his four weekends in jail, for which he must pay the cost of his incarceration.
Tanner was also ordered to complete a minimum of six sessions of personal counseling, perform 20 hours of community service within six months and pay a $150 fine.
The incident, which occurred nearly two years ago on June 11, 2011, was investigated by Stillwater Police Detective Inspector Greg Miller, who obtained Tanner’s license tag number from the victim, court records show.
“I obtained a photo of Justin Tanner from the Oklahoma Department of Safety,” which was placed in a photo line-up with five other photos, the detective inspector wrote in his affidavit. The victim identified Tanner in the line-up, the affidavit said.
“Justin Tanner admitted that he was the male in the above described incident,” that occurred when the woman was loading groceries into her car, the affidavit said.
The woman wrote in a victim impact statement, “While I have had no physical injuries from this crime, it amazes me how much a 15-second encounter can change your perception of people and life in general.
“I worry about my safety and the safety of my children while doing ordinary activities. Prior to June 11 (2011), I believed Stillwater to be a very safe place for me and my family. Now I am not so sure.
“I hate to characterize an entire town based on the actions of one individual, but this event has certainly distorted my view of Stillwater. The simple act of going to Walmart makes me anxious.
“I no longer like to run errands alone. Simply seeing a red Mustang driving down the road causes an almost tangible fear to rise up within me, and there are a lot of red Mustangs here. I notice every one.
“I am ready to put this event behind me, but unfortunately this case has already been drawn out longer than necessary.
“I think that filing repeated continuances on a relatively simple case is cruel to the victim who only wants to see this matter resolved and gain some closure.
“I live my life with much more caution and less of a carefree attitude because of this crime. There is something of a dark cloud lingering in my thoughts.
“If someone has the audacity to sexually assault me in the middle of a populated place, in daylight, and in front of my children, what might happen in less optimal circumstances.
“I believe the court should impose a very harsh sentence on the defendant.
“If a person has such an absence of morals, a lack of impulse control, a disregard for boundaries, a disrespect for the law and another person’s rights, or whatever motivation that caused him to lasciviously grab the breast of a woman, in front of her children, during the day, in a public place, and then laugh about it, then how likely is it that he would do the right thing if he came across an intoxicated coed stumbling down an alley some Saturday night?
“Justin Tanner needs to understand that actions have consequences,” the victim wrote in her statement to the court on Nov. 10, 2011.
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