PITTSBURG — An Idaho man was freed from jail through a plea deal that required him to plead guilty to lesser offenses in the brutal sexual assault of a teen girl in 2002.
But first, 50-year-old Eric Ferguson had to go to court and confess.
“On April 2nd, 2002, around 3:30 a.m. I was parked near a trail opening in Oakley, California. Around that time I saw (the girl) walking on a trail alone. I took advantage of the fact that it was dark. She was alone, and we were complete strangers,” Ferguson said at the July court hearing, using the pseudonym “Jane Doe” to refer to the victim. “When Jane Doe got closer, I approached her and threatened her to get into the back seat of my car.”
After describing an act of forcible oral copulation in detail, Ferguson concluded, “for 23 years I had evaded responsibility for my actions, but today I take accountability for the emotional and physical pain I caused Jane Doe by pleading guilty.”
Ferguson was subsequently released from jail, and prosecutors dropped much more severe charges of kidnapping, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation. Ferguson pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse and false imprisonment, records show. He was formally sentenced to two years in prison, but since he spent more than 400 days behind bars — doubled for good behavior — he was set free after court.
The deal ends a criminal case that started last year, when police announced they’d solved the 2002 sexual assault. The victim was walking her dog and reported that a stranger had attacked her and sexually assaulted her on a walking trail in Oakley.
Ferguson’s lawyers tried to get him out of jail, filing a motion that accused the woman of having made similar false accusations against others, court records show. But Ferguson remained in custody until the case’s conclusion. Had he been convicted as originally charged, he faced life in prison.
Ferguson was not required to register as a sex offender, court records show. That was a major point of contention to the victim and two of her loved ones who spoke out in court the same day he pleaded guilty. The victim said the incident, made her feel, “disgusting, humiliated, sad, angry, alone.”
“I hope that this injustice shows how much our laws still need to change. Mr. Ferguson should never see the light of day, and this extremely dangerous man will be back on the streets with vulnerable women and children,” she said. “No matter how hot the water or how hard a scrub my skin in the shower, unfortunately, Mr. Ferguson will always be apart of the brokenness that’s deep within me.”