Kiss Sends Man To Prison -- For Life

Kiss Sends Man To Prison -- For Life

POSTED: 10:37 pm EST February 16, 2006

SALEM, Ore. -- It may have been a borderline call, but it was still a third strike. The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a ruling that sent Nicholas Meyrovich to life in prison under a 2001 three-strikes law. Meyrovich got his third strike, a felony sex offense, for delivering an unwanted kiss.

Meyrovich, in his appeal, claimed that a life sentence for the kiss violated the Oregon Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Meyrovich, 60, an exterminator, was inspecting the home of a Salem woman in October 2003 when he suddenly grabbed her and kissed her. The woman pushed Meyrovich away, but he took hold of her again and sucked her on the neck, stopping when a neighbor walked in.

Meyrovich was later convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, which under Oregon law requires the forcible touching of the "sexual or other intimate parts" of another person.

http://www.local6.com/news/7135615/detail.html

n/t

One more reason I try not to trust the media, regardless of political slant, at face value.

This is an awful injustice.

also: "Meyrovich is one of only four inmates serving life sentences under Oregon's sex offender three-strikes law."

Listen, I am not a fan of these 3-strikes laws--I think they unequitably burden the poor and a lot of young people who haven't gotten their lives figured out yet can end up in jail for a very very long time because of them, but...

This guy is clearly a sex offender. Regardless of the severity of his latest crime, it seems like he is getting what he deserves...

...had the neighbour not walked in it would have been an awful injustice for the woman who would have most likely been raped by this predator.

For the record yes I am against the three strikes bullshit, however this man is a three strikes your out SEXUAL PREDATOR.

Having a man/woman force himself/herself on you no matter how far that force goes is one of the humiliating things a person will ever have to endure.

despite my disdain for mandatory sentences and three-strikes laws, this was really moree than "just a kiss".

eom

and he should have thought of that beforehand.

...he has a history of this. He is a sexual predator. Would you prefer him out to rape women? This bastard got what he deserved.

As I said above I am against the three strikes bullshit, but in this case it is different. This isn't a simple caught with a joint thing, this is about how this sick fucker destroys a persons life by the actions he performs. He would not have stopped at what did happen had the neighbour not walked in. Think about it, Mike.

On eidt: typo

assault. Even without mandatory sentencing he should be going away for life.

It's not just to try someone for prior crimes they have already been punished for. One problem with three-strikes laws is that they do precisely that-- in essence they RETRY offenders for crimes they've already done their time for. A just criminal justice system limits prosecution to the specific crime(s) alleged at the present time. The crime he received the life sentence for was a simple assault-- an assault, granted, but hardly deserving life in prison.

are routinely taken into account in sentencing whether there is a "3 strikes" law or not.

Information about prior convictions is generally not allowed in the guilt determining part of the trial.

When it comes to sentencing - the fact that a person continues to be convicted - 10 times - seems to show that the typical sentence is not having much effect. I think it seems perfectly reasonable for a person to get longer and longer sentences if the person demonstrates that he has no regard for respecting others or the law.

Maybe he has only been getting little 2 month sentences for assaulting people - so he never took it seriously. :shrug:

fixed

if he had punched her in the face, and then started ripping at her clothes, maybe...

it may have been assault, but hardly attempted rape...there isn't even any mention of fondling.

Even kissing and neck-sucking....

it may be "sexual assault", but it isn't "rape".

all rapes are sexual assaults, but not all sexual assaults are rape.

100% equal. Same thing, legally.

If not, how could they possibly be different?

Sex via force vs. Sex via force......

:confused:

here in illinois, they changed the name of the crime from "rape" to "sexual assault", to be more all-encompassing. legally-speaking, rape doesn't exist in illinois.

and it is not necessarily the same thing. In this case, a male groped a female in the breast and groin area thru her clothes, hard enough to leave many major bruises. That is considered sexual assault. It wasn't rape or attempted rape.

In Tennessee, the two are different.

Any forced sexual act that does not include penetration is sexual assault. Rape involves penetration.

Penetration is a higher degree of sexual assault than touching. If you don't see the difference, well, the ability to categorize and make distinctions is the essence of analysis and what is often called "intelligence," maybe you should work on it, unless you like living in an entirely black and white world.

The Model Penal Code did away with the old definition of rape to try to make it gender neutral and introduce some logic to it. The term "sexual assualt" is a blanket term under the new offense definition and may or may not corelate to the old term "rape." As I mentioned, penetration raises the level of sexual assualt and makes it first degree sexual assualt. If there is physical injury it would be aggravated first degree sexual assualt. Mere touching would be a lower level, and showing someone your privates a lower level still.

There are age gradations, too. Non-penetration touching of a child is equivalent to penetrating an adult.

This is why most states are switching to the broader "sexual assualt."

I agree with the person who posted the revised headline classifying the case as an attempted rape. At the very least, this should have been charged -- the article indicates he stopped when a third party intervened, no telling how far he would have tried to take it if that intervention had not occurred.

I'm so sure he wouldn't have escalated the behavior had that not happened. :sarcasm:

they obviously all weren't felonies, or he would've been a three-strikes "victim" 6 crimes ago- so, they obviously weren't rape or even attempted rape.
sounds more like a perv and a serial groper- but not a rapist.

Despite being caught and punished numerous times, he continues to be a 'perv and serial groper'. He's a danger to society. And don't assume there weren't more than 3 felonies in his past. The justice system is far from perfect and allows people to fall through the cracks due to computer or human error.

why can't i assume that the others weren't felonies?

So he just goes around grabbing and groping and kissing women against their will. And continues to do it after being caught and prosecuted. No big deal, right? I'm not saying I necessarily agree with the 3 strikes law but people are getting life sentences for felony theft and drug charges. You can conceivably get a life sentence without ever having assaulted anyone. This is a guy who thinks women are there for him to grab anytime he wants. What he did to that woman was freaking scary. Jail him, hospitalize him, whatever, get him off the street.

If his victim were a 12 year old girl or boy, would you feel differently?

but from the information in the article- he's not a rapist.

...read the article carefully which states he only stopped when the neighbour walked in. If you think he would have stopped at just what did happen prior to the neighbour walking in, then you have never been in a position of being violated like that.

On edit: typo

when the neighbor appeared- that's HARDLY "attempted rape". a serial "kisser"/groper (albeit unwanted) is a far cry from a rapist- he's been arrested & convicted NINE times for "sexual offenses"- if they had been actual or even attempted RAPE- he would have already been subject to the three stikes laws- three times over, and wouldn't be out on the street. he may be a perv, with SERIOUS social interaction problems- but he doesn't sound like a rapist.

And the whole damn point I have been making is do you honestly believe this predator would have stopped at just that had the neighbour not walked in?

Give me a break with your little lesson about what constitutes a rapist. I have been raped a couple of times and spent my childhood being molested by someone in my family. How dare you insult my intelligence like you have.

lke i said- he sounds like a serial perv, NOT a rapist.

(btw- have you ever considered taking a self-defense class...?)

You really are out of touch with this subject.

By the way that really is none of your business, but because of the industry I work in NOW I have had some training.

So just go back to your own little world of denial and stop insulting my intelligence.

He might be the one who needs the self defense class if he spews that victim-blaming crap with too many of his female acquaintances. :grr:

Patronizing, ignoramuses like that are almost as bad as the rapists, molesters, and pervs they act as apologists for. I sure hope he never gets on a jury in a sexual assualt trial. The perp would have to practically kill the woman for him to convict.

* Sorry, I had to respond to your post instead of his because I'd get banned for life for what I'd like to tell him.

And thank you so much for the support. I truly appreciate it. :)

With a past history of sexual offenses.

Obviously with no control over his dark side, even after 9 convictions and surely an awareness of the 3 strikes law.

neck, you would be SCREAMING attempted rape from the highest mountain.

It was an attempted rape. The only reason it was not a rape is the neighbor walked in.

i'd just deck the guy, and/or kick him in the balls.

it was NOT an attempted rape- it was a grope...if it were an attempted rape, he would have punched her face, not kissed it.

rape is a crime of violence, remember?

Try Bill O'Reilly's site. You'd probably find a more congenial atmosphere for you there.

or do you believe a woman has to fight back or it's really not raped. The verbal threat of physical violence has caused many a woman submit to rape without a scratch. It's still legally rape.

too bad she wasn't able to. Oh, but that would make it an assault.

A guy decking a guy is a little different from a female trying to fight off an unexpected attack.

Freakin martian.

The article says "stopping when a neighbor walked in." Until then, this woman was alone in the house w/a man with a history of sexual assualt, who had already begun to assualt her. She was lucky that the neighbor walked in when he did, or this could have become much more serious. Just a kiss? Please. You can disagree w/the three strikes laws w/o attempting to mimimize what this guy did.

:applause:

If I was home alone and an exterminator grabbed me and sucked on my neck - I would assume that an attempted rape would follow and act accordingly.

He was taking advantage of a situation (visiting people in their homes where they feel safe - at their request) to attempt to hurt the person paying them for an innocent service.

Thankfully a neighbor came in an stopped it.

I'm not a fan of 3 strikes laws, but this guy should have gone away for life. 60 years old and he hasn't figure out that you can't grab women yet?? Buh bye.

ewwww!

I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for that idiot.

True, a life sentence for that action is a bit drastic but what were his previous offenses/convictions?

The lady should have performed a 'Bobbit' on him!

IMHO he qualifies a habitual sexual assaulter. I can't help but shudder to think that this exterminator's victim could have been my daughter, or sister or mother. I wonder whether the state has ever tried to rehabilitate this man? If so, I have to say I'm glad he won't be able to harm anyone else.

He obviously has had more than three strikes...

From the news article - "Meyrovich had been convicted of nine prior sex offenses."

someone with 9 priors are still on the streets to commit number 10?

Seems to me like there should have been some intervention after number 2.

without any supervision??

Mininum wage job. Who's gonna check.

the guy sounds like some kind of serial groper.

Life sentence might be a bit harsh, perhaps removing his gonads with a rusty knife would persuade him to modify his behaviour a little...

Whoever wrote this news report should be busted for framing a story...as posted above, this wasn't about a kiss, this was criminal assault. Serves the bastard right.

Looks like someone was playing cute with a headline and fast and loose with the facts. The scary thing is this probably is some 20-something kid right out of J-school...a harbinger of things to come??

I thought it was the band - maybe they had caught a bootlegger or something.

It's bound to happen - a KISS-themed privatelty-run prison.

Accuracy?

He's inspecting her home, so chances are she's alone, and he attacks her, kisses her, gets pushed away, grabs her and starts trying to give her a hickey? He only stops because someone else walks in? Where would he have ended up if no one had walked in?

the article doesn't state what his other two strikes were but I am betting that they were probably sexual in nature....the article says sex offenses but doesn't specify what his other convictions were for..

that was no kiss it was an attemped sexual assault and it probably would have been a rape charge if the woman's neighbor had not walked in....

The man deserves to be back in jail with the history he's had - and because of what he may do in the future because obviously, he hasn't reformed. What would have happened if a neighbor hadn't walked in? Would he have raped her? Sorry, I can't feel sorry for the guy.

Meyrovich argued that the neck is not an intimate part of the body; the court disagreed.

I disagree too. My neck is one of my erogenous zones. How can your neck not be an intimate part of your body? Wow.

He didn't kill anyone, he DID assault this woman, but he did not rape her, he didn't send thoudands of Americans off to get scared for life or killed.

Where's the sympathy for Mr. Meyrovich? Maybe society is to blame? Maybe he has a chemical imbalance? Maybe his brained is wired incorrectly?

Nobody here seems to think he's redeemable.

Maybe he does have a chemical imbalance. He can see the prison doctors and psychs about that.

Like one of these: :sarcasm:?

:puke:

Asshole creep. Put him in a cell with a neck-kissin' roomie. Then ask him how it feels.

He deserves every day of his sentence. He was a repeat offender testing boundaries to see how much he could get away with, and well, it seems he knows now.

and if it was his thrid strike, he should have known the consequence of these actions.

And three strikes laws are not only barbaric but pointless.

That being said, however, I don't have much sympathy. If I were the woman in question, I would definitly consider what this person did an assault. The headline unfortunately leads one to believe that his actions were less serious than they actually were. And frankly, anybody who would "kiss" like that is more than a little scary (i.e., I suspect he might have been thinking about raping this woman - thank God for the neighbor walking in!)

bothered with how you represent this action, compared to the story, than what happened to this man. i dont like the three strike thing, but that is disgusting... a kiss. bullshit. stopped when a neighbor came in

why do you think he stopped

fuck that shit.

at least put in title an assault

Which I try to do in most all my postings (except when they don't fit, like stories from govexec where headlines can be long)

ok i understand. than am pissed for whoever wrote it, but totally take back what i said to you. i am sorry, wink

I should have noted that though in my posting. Live and learn!

makes for a nice headline though

It would have been a rape without the neighbor walking in.

What would have happened? She pushed him away and he continued to force himself on her. That's much more than a kiss.

Obviously, he poses a threat to other people,
and he has PROVEN that he is not going to stop on his own.

Seperating him from society seems like an entirely reasonable response.

I hope the "reporter" or Editor
who wrote that stupid headline
catches some heat for it.

This was not a kiss, it was an ASSAULT
comitted by a SERIAL PREDATOR.

I don't like three-strikes laws either, but this sounds like a case where they did what they're supposed to do---too late.

What I don't get is: Why the hell was a guy with all these prior sexual offenses on his record allowed to have a job that involves constant access to people's HOMES?

I think most people are fairly trusting that their exterminator/plumber/cable guy etc. is going to show up, do the job, and not sexually assault someone, since they usually don't. Man, civilization will break down fast if you can't count on that.

...maybe the reason he was allowed to have a job that allowed him in people's homes was that he owned his own business. Many plumbers/exterminators/electricians/etc. are small business owners. They have some skills, tools, a truck, and an ad in the yellow pages. If that's the case, there would be no employer to do a background check and whatnot.

Not to mention the background checks aren't always that thorough anyway. Remember after the guy was shot on the plane in FL, how it was revealed that several Federal Marshalls had prior criminal records?

3 strikes is a bit of a problem. That being said, repeat sexual offenders, if not sentenced to life, should get mandatory prison time asn well as mandatory therapy to deal with their sexual compulsion issues. Sexual compulsion is an addictive disorder just as drugs, alcohol, and food addictions are.

"Kiss" ... bullshit.

I concur with the folks who think it's a little disingenuous to call this a "kiss". It was an assault, by a sexual predator with a long history. Given the facts, I think the guy probably needs to be in jail.

sometimes it seems like they use it a little too freely and I agree with your assessment concerning this predator.

slice of PIZZA and has that as strike #3 isn't a "borderline call"? The guy who gets prison for life b/c for stealing some videotapes from Blockbuster isn't a "borderline call"? I'm SURE that any of the myriad folks who had non-violent drug offenses counted as their "third strike" wouldn't be presented as a "borderline call"...

It sounds like he was looking for more than just a kiss.

what he did is justification for lethal force. Assault in own home, male vs female, justifiable homicide.

But it is a catchy headline.

THIS type of story and headline is why it's so fucking obvious that this is a man's world. The guy had NINE prior sexual assault convictions. He was NOT ON A DATE with the woman, he was doing work in her house.. and he grabbed her and kissed her then SUCKED ON HER NECK. The neighbor saved her from being raped. I would have shot the fucker right there on the spot.l He should never ever be allowed out again... fucking predator.

This was no mere stolen kiss, this is a sexual assault. Hell, this asshole has NINE prior sexual assault convictions, why the hell was he even free to begin with?

Shouldn't have to wait for him to rape someone. By carrying out this sexual assault, he's shown he belongs behind bars.

He's also been convicted nine other times for sex offenses. He's a sexual predator who should be off the street.

Wow. Talk about sensational journalism.

clearly he's a predator.

I don't have a problem with sending this putting this serial offender away.

somewhere, someplace, there are a number of women will be spared the the misery of being raped.

I just assumed it wouldn't be posted with such a history.
Still, people kill people and are out in 8 years. All the time.
There's no survivors group for the dead.

If this is Meyrovich's third assault on a woman, he clearly can't control his sexual urges. I'm no fan of the "three strikes" laws, but this guy obviously doesn't belong on the streets.

he should be locked up for life. he clearly can't stop sexually assualting people. The issue isn't punishing him, but protecting all the people he attacks when he is free to do so.

He was already pushed off once and went again, this time forcefully, and a kiss on the neck being, in my view, an escalation of the first kiss. I don't like the three strikes your out laws (they are a usurpation of the proper judgment function of the judiciary by the legislative and executive branches), anymore than I like the utterly stupid and monstrously unjust mandatory minimum laws. But calling this simply an unwanted kiss is kinda soft-selling it, in my view. If this old pervert did this to my wife, I wouldn't want it written off as just a bit of innocent fun, yuk yuk. It is first degree sexual abuse. Now, whether he deserves life for that is another question. Maybe five years at this point would be sufficient. In any case, we'll be paying through the nose for his medical for here to eternity, for him at least.

who sympathize with this guy. This is the kind of shit that gives liberals a bad name. Give him 5-10 years? So he can get out and play "exterminator" again? I don't think so...

sorry if I was one that alarmed you.

who seem to think that he is just a "perv"..

not a joke. Men who use and abuse anyone for their personal gratification are criminals, imho and I don't feel sorry for him.

and then he grabbed her started sucking on her neck. IMO, the initial kiss may have been inapropriate, and ill advised, but not criminal.

Its his actions afterward that constituted the assault. But I guess just calling it a kiss is a way for him to minimize his crime.

IMO, the neighbor walking in saved this lady from being raped.

justice served imo.

When I saw the title I though they meant that Gene Simmons got him arrested. You know the band KISS. :)

A lot of crimes occur due to an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. This might be yet another case of that.

:P

While I abhor these 3 strikes laws, this guy should have realized that with his record, any offense, no matter how minor, would get him in trouble. So he isn't going to prison for a kiss, he is going for being a career criminal.