Prosecutor and judge in Shawn Jordan rape case victims of threats

A week after a former Rochester police officer avoided prison time following a rape conviction, the prosecutor and judge were the victims of harassment and threats, authorities said.

The case of Shawn Jordan, who admitted to raping a 13-year-old girl, made national and even international headlines because the former Rochester police officer received what some considered a lenient sentence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and was sentenced last week to 10 weekends in jail followed by 10 years probation.

“Following this confession and conviction, we received some pretty violent phone calls and text messages and even Facebook messages on our personal Facebook accounts threatening us with death and telling us to kill ourselves. The letter claimed we were worse than the person who committed the crime,” said Kelly Wolford, the Ontario County Assistant District Attorney who prosecuted the case.

Ontario County Court Judge Kristina Karle has received similar threats, Wolford said. The threats have been reported to law enforcement.

Why this request?

Wolford said the plea agreement was because there was no evidence other than the girl's testimony and because she was afraid of how testifying in court would affect the victim. She said she believes the girl, now 15, would have been severely traumatized by the testimony.