Former caregiver sentenced to 8 years for raping developmentally disabled woman

MatthewTilly.jpgMatthew Anthony Tilly

A former group home employee in Aloha will spend eight years and four months in prison for

of the home, a Washington County judge decided Thursday.

Police said the 23-year-old victim waited until the day after Matthew Tilly, 28, had been fired from his job as a caregiver to disclose that he had raped and sodomized her.

Tilly went to trial without a jury before

Judge Charles Bailey on 10 counts of

sex crimes.

Bailey

of one count of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sodomy and four counts of first-degree sex abuse.

At sentencing Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey asked Bailey to impose a maximum sentence of 29 years and two months. McKey argued that Tilly's sentences on each charge should be served back-to-back because each represented a separate harmful act.

McKey also cited jail phone calls since Tilly's conviction, in which Tilly continued to display a lack of responsibility for his actions.

Tilly admitted to police during their investigation that he had sexual contact with the victim, McKey said. He also told police he understood that her mental capacity was that of a child, and that was the reason she lived in the group home.

Tilly's attorney, Michael Rees, asked the court to impose a lesser sentence that departed from Measure 11's mandatory minimum of eight years, four months.

Rees told the judge that the

had thanked Tilly for intervening when other jail inmates attacked Deputy Adam Slater in August.

Tilly had also successfully completed a class in decision-making while in jail, Rees said.

He understands that he did something wrong, Rees said, and that he should have avoided having sex with the victim.

When asked if he anything to say, Tilly stood wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit, his dark hair slicked straight back.

"I didn't wish anything bad for her," he said.

He acknowledged that in an interview with a sheriff's office detective, he admitted engaging in sex acts with the victim.

"I never said they were forced," he said, "and they weren't."

At that, Bailey interjected and asked whether Tilly understood that the victim's mental capacity made any sexual contact with her inappropriate.

"I didn't understand that," Tilly said.

Bailey then asked if Tilly understood that her ability to made decisions was "less than ours."

"Yeah," Tilly responded.

Bailey asked if Tilly saw nothing wrong with taking advantage of the victim's mental capacity for his own sexual gratification.

"It wasn't for my gratification," Tilly said. "I didn't have her do anything she didn't want to do."

You didn't benefit from the sex acts, Bailey asked.

"No," Tilly responded. "Not necessarily."

"You did it purely for (the victim's) benefit?" Bailey asked.

"Not really," Tilly said.

"Not really what?" Bailey asked.

"I don't know," Tilly said.

Bailey sentenced Tilly under Measure 11 to eight years, four months in prison.

The sentence the state had asked Bailey to impose "goes a bit far," he said. "It goes way too far."

It didn't take into account Tilly's decision to do "the right thing," and help Deputy Slater in the jail attack, Bailey said. It also didn't consider Tilly's attempts to better himself in jail through classes, he said.

As part of his sentence, Tilly was also ordered to complete sex offender evaluation and treatment upon his release.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.