https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Redding-man-sentenced-to-18-years-in-prison-in-12935115.php
Redding man sentenced to 18 years in prison in sexual assault of minor
Updated 6:20 pm, Tuesday, May 22, 2018
DANBURY - A woman whose father was being sentenced Tuesday for sexually assaulting a minor tearfully told a Superior Court judge that he abused her, too, when she was in her teens, but that he never got the punishment he deserved.
“He is a danger to society,” the woman told Judge Kevin Russo during a sentencing hearing for Stephen Overby, who had pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault. “I would like to see him never return to society. He should never be allowed near children.”
The judge agreed, sentencing Overby to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing a child while living with former Redding Board of Education chairwoman Sara Sobel.
Overby’s daughter offered encouragement to her father’s victim.
“I know what you are going through,” she said. “You’re going to make it.”
Overby avoided eye contact with his daughter and his most recent victim before being led away in handcuffs, culminating a year-long investigation that shocked a small town and led to Sobel’s resignation from her posts on the school board and the Democratic Town Committee.
Earlier in the hearing, Overby’s son also condemned his father.
“Nobody knows this, but I was going to include you in my wedding vows for showing me what not to become,” he said. “Your legacy is that your children will be nothing like you.”
Now that Overby has been sentenced, prosecutors can turn their attention to Sobel, who declined a plea deal offered last month and did not appear in court Tuesday.
Sobel, who described herself to authorities as a “close personal friend” of Overby, was charged last spring along with her husband, Jon Sobel, with risk of injury to a minor after authorities said they failed to cooperate in a state investigation into the abuse.
Prosecutors later levied additional charges against Sara Sobel, including conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault and accessory to illegal sexual contact. They claimed during a recent court hearing that she gave Overby several of the videos and photographs of child pornography found in his possession when he was arrested.
The plea deal that Sobel declined could have landed her in prison for up to 10 years. She rejected that offer and instead elected to go to trial.
Norm Pattis, who represents Overby, said Tuesday that Sobel will handle Overby’s affairs while he is in prison.
“For reasons only God knows, he has granted Sara power of attorney,” Pattis said.
“That’s borderline unbelievable,” Judge Russo replied. “I find it difficult to believe that this is a man a family would invite into their home.”
Russo commended the victim for her bravery and courage in confronting her abuser and helping authorities with the investigation against Overby.
“You’ve unwittingly become the star of the show,” Russo said, “because without you there would be no sentencing today.”
Overby’s ex-wife said in court that she was happy justice finally prevailed, because the system had failed her family when he was first arrested, in 1995, after abusing his daughter. He pleaded guilty at the time to a misdemeanor but served no prison time. He was ordered to register as a sex offender, but failed to do so.
“For more than 20 years I’ve been asking myself, ‘What more should I have done, what could I have done and what did I miss,’ ” she told the court. “Now there will be no more sexual abuse, no more violence. It all ends today.”
dperrefort@newstimes.com
