LOS ANGELES – The case of Hannah Tubbs will surely leave any rational person scratching their head and asking, “How did we get here?”
Tubbs is a 26-year-old biological male who now wants to identify as a female. He was recently convicted of sexually assaulting a child when he was 17, the Post Millennial reported.
Tubbs was not tried or convicted during his juvenile years, but as an adult. Nevertheless, he’s been sentenced to serve two years in a juvenile detention facility.
Moreover, Tubbs will not be required to register as a sex-offender since the crime was committed while he was a minor.
Tubbs did not begin a gender transition from male to female until after being taken into custody on charges of child molestation, according the American Conservative.
In 2014, when Tubbs was still 17, and just prior to turning 18, he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Denny’s restaurant in Palmdale California, ABC 7 reported.
A DNA match in 2019 linked Tubbs to the crime. He later confessed and was charged in 2021, seven years after the offense occurred.
However, in another era, this case would have been handled reasonably by a responsible district attorney. But that no longer exists in Los Angeles – as well as many other jurisdictions around the country – since District Attorney George Gascon is in charge.
Hence, prosecutors did not file to have Tubbs tried as an adult, even though it would seem plausible given the defendant’s current age in addition to his being so close to the age of majority when the crime was committed.
On Thursday, a deputy district attorney argued in court for the judge to transfer the 26-year-old to an adult jail, saying in his opinion, the law gives the judge that authority, ABC 7 reported.
“In crystal clear terminology provides this court with the authority to order a transfer of an individual to sheriff’s custody, or to a county jail facility, after that individual has turned 19 years of age,” said a prosecutor during court.
However, after hearing arguments, Superior Court Judge Mario Barrera lamented his options, saying under current legislation, a person who commits a crime as a juvenile and is jailed in a juvenile facility once they turn 19, the court has no authority to transfer that person to an adult facility.
“This court will not disregard what the legislature has put onto it as a limitation,” said the judge, emphasizing he was “extremely limited” due to the decision by Gascon not to try Tubbs as an adult.
“I want to be clear,” Barrera said during Thursday’s proceedings. “The filing of a transfer motion is entirely within the discretion of the district attorney.”
Gascon has previously “argued that the brains of juveniles aren’t fully developed and that the proper setting to rehabilitate people who commit crimes while underage is a juvenile treatment facility,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Furthermore, since the case remained in juvenile court, Tubbs will not be required to register as a sex offender. Tubbs could have been sentenced to almost a decade in prison if he was tried and convicted as an adult.
“[She’s]every parent’s worst nightmare,” said L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Shea Sanna. “If your kid goes to the bathroom, then you shouldn’t have to worry about them being attacked.”
Even the Los Angeles County Probation Department sought to have Tubbs assigned to an adult facility, but to no avail, according to the Times.
Barrera ordered Tubbs to be housed in either the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar or the Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce.
The deputy district attorney pointed out the idiotic nature of this case, saying, “You have a violent child sexual predator who’s been sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility.”
“As a prosecutor,” the ADA said, “I’m not here to protect child molesters.”
Tubbs has been arrested for other offenses over the years, including battery and drug possession. He’s also been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Kern County, which is in central California.
