Wichita man sentenced to more than 10 years for fondling girl

A Sedgwick County judge on Thursday imposed a sentence of more than 10 years on a Wichita man convicted of fondling a 7-year-old girl during a party in 2013.

Raymond Buberwa, 28, had been eligible to receive life imprisonment under Kansas’ version of Jessica’s Law, but District Judge Gregory Waller granted a defense motion to issue lesser sentences on the two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Buberwa, who was convicted of the crimes at trial, will serve two 61-month prison sentences consecutively, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. He stood accused of sexually touching the girl at a friend’s house on Oct. 12, 2013.

In the motion for sentencing departure, Buberwa’s attorney asked for a lesser prison term on the grounds that Buberwa had little criminal history prior to the offenses, was working toward gaining American citizenship and that the degree of harm done to the 7-year-old was “significantly less than typical for a rape case.”

Jessica’s Law toughened prison sentences for those convicted of certain sex crimes against children under 14 after it passed in 2006. It’s named for a 9-year-old Florida girl who was raped and murdered in 2005.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Wichita man sentenced to more than 10 years for fondling girl."