(Kyle Dean Payne) "For you someday this all may blow over and be done... the wounds you caused me will never go away... I will never forgive you." ~ Victim's statemet to defendant at sentencing Friday [Click to enlarge]

Despite an emotional appeal from the victim and her mother in court Monday, Kyle Dean Payne will serve no prison sentence for his conviction on three crimes related to an incident in which he partially stripped an unconscious fellow Buena Vista University student, photographed himself fondling her body, and later installed the images and video on his computer.

Judge Don E. Courtney admitted that he was "torn" in sentencing Payne, who had promoted himself as a women's rights and anti abuse activist, and volunteered as a rape crisis women's counselor while studying at BVU.

"I'm torn between sending this young man to prison or having him spend a substantial amount of time in the county jail," Courtney said, leaving the Buena Vista County Courtroom for several minutes during the proceedings to soulsearch over the decision.

When he returned, he gave Payne a five year prison term on an attempted burglary felony charge, and suspended the entire sentence in favor of probation. Payne was given 360 days in the county jail on each of two invasion of privacy convictions, but the terms were cut in half to 180 days and set to run concurrently, so he will receive 180 days total. No fine was announced, and Payne was given a week to get his affairs in order before reporting to the sheriff to be jailed.

The victim, her family and supporters from various feminist and women's rights movements had argued for Payne to be sentenced to the maximum possible penalty, and wanted him to be placed on the Sex Abusers Registry. They claimed he was using his position as a women's advocate to gain access to young women who are in a vulnerable state, which Payne denies.

The victim addressed the judge during the sentencing.

"I didn't want to come here and speak today," she said, "I only wanted this to go away.

"It's the kind of thing that you hear can happen, but not to you." She broke down briefly, saying that being in court was making her feel like what had happened to her was "happening all over again."

She turned to Payne, who was sitting directly in front of her. "For you someday this all may blow over and be done... the wounds you caused me will never go away."

The girl said she was unconscious at the time, and only learned of the abuse though the images of it that authorities found on Payne's computer. She was helpless, she said, and has no idea if further abuses took place.

"I'm lost and I'm broken, and I plead with the court to give him the maximum sentence," she said.

If Payne was truly sorry for what he had done, he would not have downloaded the images of her onto his computer, the victim said. "I will never forgive you," she told Payne.

Payne spoke briefly later in the sentencing, saying that he was "very sorry" for what had happened, and that he was taking full responsibility for it. "I don't expect forgiveness from you," he told the victim and her family.

With intense interest in the case within the online feminist community, numerous police and sheriffs officers were present for security inside and outside the courtroom. A victim's advocate sat with the young woman throughout.

The incident occurred after an off duty resident advisor reportedly asked Payne to check on the condition of the young woman, as Payne also worked as an RA at BVU. Payne, who had repeatedly spoken and written as a women's advocate, said on his blog site that he felt a sudden and confusing urge to partially undress the woman and touch her, and unsure how to react to the feelings, he acted on the urge.

Buena Vista County Attorney David Patton said that his initial reaction was that a person such as Payne belonged in prison, but that his heart later "softened" toward the defendant. A plea bargain agreement was made before a trail date arrived. When Patton read Payne's blog, his psychological evaluation and a statement he wrote to the judge, he said he switched opinions again. "Mr. Payne needs to be sent to prison," said Patton, claiming that he showed no real remorse.