Lucas Russell was sentenced to 50 years in prison this Friday. He faced eight felony counts related to allegations of sexually assaulting and raping three girls — ages 9 and 10, eventually pleading guilty to four counts including including forcible rape of a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse of a child and lewd and lascivious acts upon a child.
Russell’s family and his former teacher, though, say that Russell is severely disabled, and his disability was not properly taken into account during his arrest, imprisonment and sentencing.
They say that Russell, who is “severely intellectually disabled” and was a special education student his entire life, is prone to confabulation and unable to understand his rights and the functioning of the court. They worry that Russell might have been coerced into a false confession and not offered adequate legal representation and resources. The Humboldt County District Attorney’s office disputes those claims.
“The sentence follows Russell’s guilty plea in March to four felony charges, including forcible rape of a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and lewd and lascivious acts upon a child,” a press release by the District Attorney’s office announced Friday afternoon.
Russell was arrested in February 2023. He was 21 years old at that time.
The courtroom
In court, Russell’s father described his son as “still very much a boy” and characterized the case as made up of “he said, she said” allegations.
Russell expressed interest in going to a jury trial in the courtroom, but the judge noted that Russell had already entered into a plea deal and would thus be sentenced.
One victim, identified as “Jane Doe No. 2,” spoke in court, as did her mother and father. “That person took something from somebody they can never get back,” the victim’s father said. “… There ain’t 10 life sentences that can pay back for what he did.”
Gregory Rowe, an educational specialist and life skills teacher with Arcata High School, told the Times-Standard that he was Russell’s teacher for five years.
In Rowe’s estimation, Russell — who is incapable of reading legal documents — is a uniquely vulnerable “people pleaser” who might have been unable to understand his rights and circumstances when interviewed by police and subsequently in assisting with his legal defense.
“He is prone to confabulation, and his family and all the people that know Lucas were concerned that he would be somebody that would just go along and try to say whatever it was that detectives wanted to hear,” Rowe said.
Rowe attempted to speak at Russell’s sentencing but was barred from doing so by the court.
The circumstances of Russell’s arrest
“In 2023, a 9-year-old victim (Jane Doe 2) disclosed to her mother that she had been sexually assaulted by Russell, a family acquaintance who occasionally served as a caregiver for another child (Jane Doe 1),” the DA detailed in a press release. “A subsequent investigation by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Russell had blindfolded and sexually assaulted both girls in a chicken coop on a rural property in Blue Lake. The investigation also uncovered that Jane Doe 1 had been subjected to ongoing abuse over a period of time.
“A third victim, unrelated to Doe 1 and 2, later came forward and reported being sexually abused by Russell — her step-uncle — when she was 8 years old and also living in Blue Lake.”
Legal representation
Both Rowe and Russell’s family expressed concerns that Russell did not understand the gravity of the legal proceedings and might have not had adequate access to legal counsel. Russell told the Times-Standard that he had only seen his lawyer twice in the past two years of incarceration.
“Lucas’s attorney is not on Lucas’s side whatsoever, and hasn’t been from the get-go,” Russell’s mother Dawn told the Times-Standard. She asked that her last name not be used out of fear of repercussions. She said she believed that Russell was bullied by police and that his testimony was coerced.
Russell’s attorney, Anakalia “Andrea” Kaluna Sullivan, disputed those claims. She told the Times-Standard that she believed that Russell’s intellectual disability had been adequately considered by the court. She said that it is a rare thing for a court to declare a defendant incompetent to stand trial, and a step like that would have been inappropriate for Russell’s case.
“I never declared a doubt as to his competency, and I did my due diligence to confirm that he … had enough mental acuity to know what was going on,” Sullivan said. “All of that was explored and looked into.”
Sullivan said that Russell might be eligible for early parole under a youthful offender program because the crimes involved in the case occurred when Russell was around 18 — and characterized Russell’s sentence as “lenient” given the severity of the crimes — which could have resulted in a life sentence.
“The victims were 9 and 10 years old, and he was convicted of the child-rape of both of them,” Sullivan said. “Ordinarily, especially in Humboldt County, people are really up in arms if it’s perceived that someone is getting leniency, and it is a form of leniency for (Russell) not to have a life sentence. I told the court today that the cognitive and learning disabilities that he … has were considered, I believe, in the plea bargain that he received. So, I understand that his parents are upset, but that was factored into his case.”
Sullivan also noted that while Russell waived the right to appeal his sentence as part of his plea deal — a move that caused audible shock among Russell’s friends and family in the courtroom — he didn’t waive his right to challenge his conviction. “Any defendant has the right to file a writ of habeas corpus, which is different from an appeal,” Sullivan said.
School documents
In documents viewed by the Times-Standard, Russell’s cognitive and neuropsychological functioning was scored by a school psychologist with the Northern Humboldt Union High School District as “extremely low.”
Those documents also characterized Russell as “a friendly and helpful student,” and Rowe said that that sort of affability would often fool people into thinking that Russell is higher functioning than he is.
Documents from Russell’s senior year of high school focused on life and vocational skills like making change, budgeting for a household, keeping an updated resume and looking for job listings in the community.
Russell’s safety
Russell told his family over the phone that he would remain in the Humboldt County jail for “a couple weeks” before being transferred to state prison; he said that jail officials had told him they might be sending him to Stockton.
Russell’s mother, Dawn, expressed concerns that Russell — who is diminutive in stature — wouldn’t survive in prison. Dawn said that her son had already been the target of violence in the Humboldt County jail.
Over the phone, Lucas Russell told this reporter that he had been under a protective hold recently because of a fist fight that broke out between him and a cellmate who had tried to steal from him. “He tried to steal my muffin and ended up socking me in the face,” Russell said.
False confessions
Lucas’s family remains concerned that he might have been coerced into a false confession.
“An innocent person may also falsely confess because of increased stress, mental exhaustion, promises of lenient sentences or challenges with understanding their constitutional rights,” The Innocence Project notes. “Children, people with intellectual disabilities and people with language barriers are left particularly vulnerable due to this lack of comprehension.”
The DA’s office said that their investigation was careful to avoid coercive tactics.
“During the investigation, it was known that Russell has a documented learning disability. His recorded confession included admissions of sexual assault involving both Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. Investigators carefully conducted the interview to avoid any suggestive or coercive tactics, ensuring that the process was fair and thorough,” the DA’s press release read. “Before entering his guilty plea, Russell was evaluated by a defense-retained expert, Dr. Kevin Kelly, a licensed psychologist. His attorney, Andrea Sullivan, also consulted an expert on false confessions in preparation for trial. After reviewing the results of these evaluations, Russell chose to admit guilt and enter into a plea agreement, thereby avoiding a trial and the likely imposition of a life sentence.”
“This was a deeply disturbing case involving calculated and repeated abuse of vulnerable children,” District Attorney Stacey Eads said, in that press release. “We are grateful to the brave survivors and their families, and to the law enforcement and advocacy teams who helped bring this predator to justice.”
Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.
