Admitted rapist gets 20 years

WALLACE — Cory Tipton was sentenced to 20 years in prison at Wednesday Law Day after pleading guilty to rape in May 2020.

The charge stemmed from an incident in October 2018 where he engaged in non consensual sexual activity with a female following a night of drinking together at a local bar.

Tipton’s sentence is a unique one and includes 10 years fixed and the other 10 years indeterminate, but with the court retaining jurisdiction.

Rape is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one year, and the imprisonment may be extended to life.

According to Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine, “the court retained jurisdiction, remanding him to the (Idaho) Department of Corrections for programming with an emphasis on sex offender treatment and rehabilitation. Tipton will be eligible for potential release after a year, but the judge advised that his programming opportunity at IDOC does not guarantee he will receive community release upon completion.”

Rape falls under the purview of a current Idaho Supreme Court Order that requires sentencing be done in person, due largely to penalties that can be imposed.

Tipton was scheduled to be sentenced in October 2020, but a scheduling error forced Judge Wayman to push that out.

With COVID-19 restrictions keeping Shoshone County in the Zoom-format for law days, Tipton was not able to be present in the courtroom, but appeared on video from his lawyer’s office during his original sentencing date.

At the time, both the state, then represented by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ben Allen, and Tipton’s defense agreed to move forward, but ultimately Judge Wayman was not comfortable and decided to postpone Tipton’s sentencing to a date where he could appear in person.

“In light of that stipulation, we’re going to have the re-set,” Wayman said. “I think it does need to be in person pursuant to that Supreme Court order and the nature of the charge. What I don’t want to have happen, Mr. Tipton, is that we go forward with the sentencing and then the Supreme Court tell us to do it again because we didn’t follow their order.”

A 20-year no contact order was entered in favor of the victim, who also had a victim impact statement read on their behalf, but exercised their right not to appear for sentencing.