FAIRFAX, Va. — A mother in Virginia is suing after she claims Fairfax County Commonwealth's attorney Steve Descano mishandled her 11-year-old son's sexual assault case. She says this mishandling led to her son's perpetrator receiving a lesser sentence for his heinous crime.
Amber Reel's federal lawsuit claims that when Descano was prosecuting her son's sexual assault case last fall, he missed a discovery deadline.
Amber Reel alleges that this mistake resulted in the defendant, Ronnie Reel, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor instead of facing a more serious Sodomy charge and possibly life in prison.
The lawsuit claims civil rights violations of severe emotional distress for both Amber Reel and her son.
"It's hard on all of us to continue to watch my child go through this and to continue to watch myself go through this. An 11-year-old boy at the time was assaulted in a way that no child should go through. And they should have been there to defend us and they just let it go by," said Amber Reel.
Descano's office tells WUSA9 it consulted with the victim's family who at the time agreed that guaranteeing accountability through a plea deal was the right move given how the case had evolved.
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