Teen gets five years for Plumas Lake home invasion

A 19-year-old man who entered a high school classmate's home in the middle of the night, gagged her at knifepoint and bound her hands and feet with duct tape was sentenced Friday in Yuba County Superior Court to five years and four months in prison — but could be paroled in as little as 18 months, according to his attorney.

The prosecutor in the case, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Dupré-Tokos, estimated it will be about two years before Marcus Charles Hagins is eligible for parole.

Hagins, an Elverta resident and 2008 graduate of East Nicolaus High School, will receive credit for the 388 days he has served in the Yuba County Jail since the May 2009 incident at the victim's Plumas Lake home.

Judge Kathleen O'Connor ordered Hagins to register for life as a sex offender, saying his sexual bondage compulsion caused the incident.

Dupré-Tokos said she was disappointed by a jury's earlier acquittal of Hagins on a charge of attempted rape while armed.

Hagins knows that conviction on the charge could have sent him to prison for life, his attorney, Michael G. Bowman, told the court.

Jury foreman Chuck Sylvia of Marysville said earlier in the week that he was "personally bothered" by acquitting Hagins of attempted rape but that jurors felt they were following the law. According to trial testimony, Hagins never said anything sexual to the victim or touched her in a sexual way, he said.

"I feel sorry for the girl and her family," Sylvia said.

The victim's mother heard noises coming from her daughter's bedroom and interrupted Hagins, who fled from the house.

If the mother hadn't intervened, Hagins probably would have raped the girl, said Sylvia.

"We would have had him cold," he said, and Hagins would have received a long prison term.

During the trial, Hagins "just sat there looking ticked off," Sylvia said. O'Connor said Hagins had "a cavalier attitude, approaching arrogance" toward detectives who investigated the crime.

Hagins never expressed remorse, O'Connor said. She said he likely is "an extreme danger" to the public and gave him the maximum four-year-term for assaulting the victim with a knife, plus eight months each on charges of falsely imprisoning her and threatening to kill her and her family.

The crime showed planning and "a high degree of callousness," O'Connor said.

Hagins stole the victim's house key about seven months prior and used it to enter her house in the middle of the night while she was sleeping. The victim was particularly vulnerable, O'Connor said.

Hagins had "no regard for her as a person" and classmate, the judge said.

After he was arrested, investigators found photos of the victim and others on Hagins' computer, altered to show them bound and gagged. He also had a bondage video that included phrases he used in the victim's bedroom, O'Connor said.

Dupré-Tokos said the photo and video show that Hagins was acting out his sexual fantasies. The escalation from fantasy to action indicates he is likely to reoffend, she said.

The victim declined comment after the sentencing. In court, she told O'Connor the incident has left her with psychological and physical problems, including an asthma attack that sent her to an emergency room. She is afraid to take a shower, thinking she hears noises outside the bathroom, or to sleep alone, she told the judge.

"I can hardly eat half the time," she said.

Her mother said she is afraid to go home at night unless another family member is already there.

"We no longer feel safe and secure in our home," she told the judge.

She said she wishes the incident was "a stupid TV show that would go away if I change the channel. I can't make it go away."

When the jury's verdict was read, "I felt my life fall apart," the victim's mother said.

"The system so far has failed our family," she said.

CONTACT Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com