CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – “We wish he was in prison.”

That’s what Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford says about Shawn Jordan. That’s where the mother of his victim begged the judge to send him.

But Jordan isn’t going there.

Instead, the former Rochester Police officer will spend 10 weekends in jail for raping a 13-year-old girl in 2022. Jordan admitted to the rape as part of a plea deal. He’ll also serve 10 years on probation.

Jordan’s sentencing was immediately met with outrage from many in the community. How could an admitted child rapist avoid prison? News10NBC went to the Ontario District Attorney’s Office to find out.

Wolford, who prosecuted this case, says she understands the reaction.

“My child victim is heartbroken and hurt, and her mother is devastated. I said in part yesterday that I will never forget the sound of her mother’s voice when I told her her daughter had been raped. And the healing has just begun. But right now there’s a lot of sadness, anger, and emotion – because we all want more. But the facts and circumstances just – this is the best we could do. I had to protect her daughter and I did that.”

Jordan met the girl through her father, who was a friend. The father would bring the girl with him to Jordan’s South Bristol home. Eventually, Jordan started picking up the girl from her mother’s house, according to prosecutors.

He had been on the force nearly 15 years when he raped her. But it didn’t come to light until he was accused of exposing himself to a minor over video chat in Monroe County. Investigators contacted Ontario County to tell them they might have a potential victim, kicking off their investigation, which ended in a first-degree rape charge.

The girl did not want to testify and face Jordan, so putting the girl on the stand was not an option. She says Jordan was offered a deal to plead guilty to second-degree rape to protect the girl from being re-victimized.

“When we have plea discussions with a defendant and his attorney, we have to talk back and forth about what they may be willing to plea to. And there’s always that ongoing discussion if they are willing to enter any plea, which, honestly, is infrequent,” Wolford says. “But when they do, we have to negotiate what  they’re willing to plea to, and how much time or supervision they’re going to get.”

“I have zero doubt that if we had said, ‘You’re going to prison,’ we would’ve never had a plea. And that is the balance that we have to make in every case – not just Shawn Jordan.”

Ontario County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford

Judge Kristina Karle accepted that plea agreement. A Republican, she’s been on the bench for six years. Her husband is a Rochester Police officer. News10NBC asked if that posed a conflict of interest. District Attorney Jim Ritts says he is confident her husband’s profession did not play a role. He says Karle’s husband doesn’t know Jordan and that she has a lot of experience handling sex crimes.

“I don’t believe for a second this judge contemplated or considered in any respect where this guy worked,” he said. “Police officers hold other officers to a higher standard. We have no reason to believe this judge did anything but that.”

A date for the Monroe County case has not yet been set. Jordan will begin serving his sentence later this month.

As for the girl, she is now 15. Ritts called her an amazing, strong young lady who is getting help to heal.

“In the long run, this is a child who knows she was heard, she was believed, she was supported, and so our fervent hope is she is able to carry that forward.”

Ontario County District Attorney Jim Ritts

If you need help reporting or healing from abuse, contact The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester (formerly known as Bivona).