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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Rejecting a claim of cultural misunderstanding, a judge has sentenced Ukrainian Oleg Barabash, accused of exposing himself and fondling a 12-year-old boy, to five more months in jail before his deportation.
The 27-year-old former Brigham Young University student tearfully pleaded with 4th District Judge Steven Hansen on Tuesday for a sentence with no more jail time.
Barabash originally was charged with four felony counts of sexually abusing a child and two class A misdemeanors of lewdness involving a child. He pleaded guilty to the two misdemeanors in July in a plea deal that included prosecutor Donna Kelly recommended deportation but not jail time.
"You cannot stand before me and plead cultural justification for the inappropriate molestation of a child in this case, Hansen told Barabash. "I am not persuaded by that in the slightest. I can't imagine (what was done) is appropriate in Russia, China or the South Pacific."
He then imposed a 240-day jail sentence with credit for time Barabash already spent.
Barabash was arrested in May and accused of molesting the boy several times over a period of months.
More than a dozen friends of Barabash attended the hearing, including co-workers from the Missionary Training Center and a couple who sponsored Barabash's coming to the United States. They claimed he was affectionate and didn't realize what he was doing was considered inappropriate.
In a small Ukrainian village, the interaction between friends and family is dramatically different than what is accepted in the United States, said Robert Giles, Barabash's sponsor.
"His lack of understanding of American culture is what put him here," said Giles, a South Carolina resident who met Barabash while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine. "We don't accept these types of things in American culture."
The boy, now 13, said, "In some ways I've gotten really bad thoughts in my mind. My life has gotten miserable. I hope that he can get the help he needs and everyone can recover."
Barabash said there was nothing sexual between him and the boy. "I feel sorry for what happened (to the boy) from the consequences of our friendship."
Hansen told Barabash, "You need to serve time in this. You should want to do that for his (the boy's) benefit -- for his healing."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
