Jason Adam Fallin
La Plata, MD – Sexual abuse of a minor jury trials are the saddest of all. Families are fractured and likely will never be the same.
For Jason Adam Fallin, 36, of Waldorf, whose first trial ended in a hung jury before being convicted in the second trial last April, it doesn’t matter now.
Fallin was sentenced to 21 years in the Maryland Department of Corrections by Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West Friday, July 15.
“I really feel strongly in cases like these that it’s important to let people know what I am thinking,” West said. “There is no question Mr. Fallin comes from a good family who is very supportive of him.
“These are heartbreaking moments,” the judge said. “For sexual abuse of a loved one, these are the type of cases that rip families apart,” he added. “I don’t know the nuances of the disorder Mr. Fallin suffers from. I don’t know if the disorder caused this to happen. This is a very serious case, a very sad case.”
According to Charles County Assistant States Attorney Sarah Freeman, Fallin’s daughter, the victim in this case, first reported the abuse in 2012, but she indicated it could have been taking place two years before that.
Freeman said a previous offense in Fairfax, VA places Fallin in repeat offender status.
“In this case, Mr. Fallin’s daughter was born one or two days before he was sentenced in the Fairfax case,” she stated.
She called the defendant’s actions a violation of trust.
“The state feels his sentence should be swift and harsh,” Freeman stressed.
Charles County Assistant Public Defender Allison Heldreth let her client’s family speak for her.
“It’s never easy when someone’s life is laid across someone else’s table,” the defendant’s mother, Julia Diana Fallin said. “We all knew from a very early age that Jason would need to be taken care of for the rest of his life.”
She said her son has a tendency to watch something on television and then apply it to himself.
Irene Posey told the court that “Jason was failed by all of us.”
She asked the judge to not send him to prison, but where he can get the care he needs.
“Heal him and heal all of us,” she said.
West said he could not do that.
“I believe this is a top of the guidelines case,” he said. “There is a strong argument to be made that this is an above the guidelines case. He exploited a position of trust.”
West sentenced the defendant to 25 years with all but 21 years suspended and tacked on another 10 years for third-degree assault, to run concurrently.
The active time will be 21 years, the judge stressed.
He added five years of supervised probation upon his release and told Fallin he must register as a Tier 3 sex offender.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com