Photo: Los Angeles Police Department
A transgender woman was sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in 2014. Hannah Tubbs, who identified as James Tubbs at the time, was just two weeks from turning 18 when they walked into the bathroom of a Denny's and grabbed the young girl by her throat.
They shoved the girl into a bathroom stall and put their hands down the girl's pants.
Prosecutors didn't file charges until 2019 due to a lack of evidence. Tubbs was linked to the case after her DNA was entered into a database following an arrest in Idaho.
Despite being 26-years-old, Tubbs' case was held in juvenile court because they were a minor when the crime was committed.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has refused to prosecute anybody who committed a crime when they were under the age of 18 as an adult. As a result, the judge said his hands were tied when handing down the two-year prison sentence. Because Tubbs was not tried as an adult, they will not have to register as a sex offender when they are released.
Officials blasted the outcome of the case, placing the blame squarely on Gascon.
"The outcome of the Tubbs case is unsatisfactory Judge Barrera's hands were tied today – due to the fact that the DA's office failed to file a motion to transfer Tubbs to adult criminal court, which is where she rightly belongs," Kathryn Barger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said in a statement. "Instead, we're left with a 26-year-old individual sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility in isolation, separated by sight and sound from the other juveniles."