What led to Tony Ledbetter a Sioux Falls, South Dakota man cutting off his then girlfriend’s nipples. Defendant is given maximum sentence despite previous plea.
Tony Ledbetter a 46 year old Sioux Falls, South Dakota man was sentenced to 45 years jail after cutting off his girlfriend’s nipples.
Tony Deval Ledbetter’s sentencing follows Ledbetter previously pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated assault in August. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to ask for no more than 30 years. But it wasn’t to be.
Argus Leader reported Judge Doug Hoffman going against the plea agreement Tuesday and giving Ledbetter the maximum sentence of 45 years instead.
Ledbetter was accused of sitting on the woman and slicing off her nipples with a pair of scissors during an argument over their relationship, October last year.
During the course of the argument, Ledbetter punched, slammed his then 39 year old pregnant girlfriend’s head on the ground and tried to get her to stop screaming by putting pressure on her throat with his forearm. Ledbetter later grabbed a pair of scissors where he proceeded to mutilate the by then unconscious woman’s breasts, in essence seeking to delegitimize her femininity.
Ledbetter then ended up calling 911 to explain himself.
The ex girlfriend was taken to hospital with her unborn baby unharmed.
During trial proceedings, the victim said Ledbetter knew she wanted to nurse her arriving child.
Ledbetter later apologized in court, insisting he did not believe in violence.
‘Do you feel like a man?’; 45-year-old Tony Ledbetter of Sioux Falls, S.D., gets 45 years for cutting off ex-girlfriend’s nipples https://t.co/eGkj7X3mHO pic.twitter.com/viDG3A8elh
— Canoe (@Canoe) November 29, 2017
Tony Ledbetter victim: ‘Because I was strong enough to say no I almost paid the ultimate price.’
The victim told during the course of their relationship of her ex boyfriend being controlling, and often displaying obsessive behavior. The woman said he would not move out of her apartment when asked and constantly had to know where she was. He had even driven by her work to check her location.
‘Because I was strong enough to say, ‘Enough is enough,’ I almost paid the ultimate price. I was nearly killed for what? Asking for my space?’ she said in her statement to the court.
Prior to the reading of Ledbetter’s sentence, the victim told the court how her injuries affected her physically and emotionally. She addressed Ledbetter directly, saying, ‘Do you feel like a man?’
Along with being sentenced to 45 years jail, Ledbetter was forbidden from having contact with his former girlfriend and her child. It wasn’t immediately clear if the man was the father of his former girlfriend’s child.
