United States v. Batchu

724 F.3d 1, 2013 WL 3752991, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 14545
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJuly 18, 2013
Docket11-2414
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 724 F.3d 1 (United States v. Batchu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Batchu, 724 F.3d 1, 2013 WL 3752991, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 14545 (1st Cir. 2013).

Opinions

KAYATTA, Circuit Judge.

Mani Batchu was a 29-year-old doctor and specialist in adolescent psychiatry when he pursued a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Two states charged him with statutory rape and two courts ordered him to cease contact with the girl. Batchu continued to pursue the relationship until federal authorities took him into custody.

Batchu pled guilty to five federal charges and was sentenced to 365 months’ imprisonment followed by 360 months’ supervised release. He now appeals that sentence. For the reasons set out below, we reject Batchu’s arguments and affirm the district court’s lengthy sentence as defensible in this case involving a skilled and apparently undeterrable predator who caused great harm to the victim and her family.

I. Background

Because Batchu pled guilty to the charges against him and now challenges only his sentence, “we glean the relevant facts from the change-of-plea colloquy, the unchallenged portions of the presentence investigation report (PSI Report), and the record of the disposition hearing.” United States v. Vargas, 560 F.3d 45, 47 (1st Cir.2009).

At the time of the criminal conduct at issue, Batchu was a 29-year-old osteopathic physician and a resident in psychiatry at the University of Illinois in Chicago. [SA 6, 9.] His special interest was adolescent psychiatry. [A 285.]

In August 2008, Batchu met “Minor A,” a 15-year-old girl from Massachusetts, on an internet dating website. [A 282.] Batchu used a fake name and a fake photograph of himself to interact with the girl, claiming first to be 17 years old and later to be 21 years old. [SA 10.] Minor A initially said that she was 18 years old; but later admitted to Batchu that she was only 15. [SA 10.]

Over the next several months, Batchu and Minor A began a long-distance relationship, communicating via instant messages, phone calls, text messages, and emails. [SA 10.] Batchu also mailed gifts and cards to Minor A at her home. [SA 10.] By January 2009, the two were routinely speaking on the telephone for several hours each day. [SA 10.] Batchu told Minor A that he was in love with her and that he wanted to marry her. [SA 10.] [4]*4He said that he did not care that she was only 15. [SA 10.]

On May 1, 2009, Batchu flew from Chicago to Connecticut, rented a car, and drove to Minor A’s house in Massachusetts. [SA 11.] He then brought her back to his hotel in Connecticut, where the two had sex. [SA 11.] Batchu was fully aware at this time that Minor A was only 15 years old. [SA 11.] Five days later, Minor A’s parents discovered what had happened and reported it to the local police department. [SA 11.] When Minor A let Batchu know that her parents had told the police about him, he declared that he did not care and that nothing would come between them. [SA 11.] The two remained in contact over the internet and telephone. [SA 11.]

On May 23, Batchu drove from Chicago to Minor A’s home town in Massachusetts. [SA 12.] He met her at a conservation area and there they engaged in intimate sexual contact short of intercourse. [SA 12.] A short while later, they were interrupted by Minor A’s older brother. Batchu fled in his car. [SA 12.]

Within 24 hours, the Eastern Hampshire County District Court in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order demanding that Batchu cut off contact with Minor A. [SA 12.] The order was served on Batchu that same day and made permanent two days later. [SA 12.] On June 8, the Eastern Hampshire County District Court issued an arrest warrant for Batchu based on a complaint alleging that he had statutorily raped Minor A on May 23. [SA 12-13.] He was arrested in Chicago the next day and confessed to police that he had a sexual relationship with Minor A. [SA 13.]

Batchu’s computer was seized and a subsequent search of the hard drive turned up: videos of Minor A that Batchu recorded while webchatting with her in which she displays her genitals and masturbates; videos of two other unidentified females (“Victim B” and “Victim C”) that Batchu recorded while webchatting with them; hundreds of videos depicting young females engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and web searches with search terms indicative of child pornography (e.g., “preteen,” “lolita,” “kiddy,” and “pthc”1). [SA 15-16.]

On June 24, Batchu appeared in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Massachusetts on the statutory rape charges. [SA 13-14.] He was released on bail on the condition that he cease contact with Minor A. [SA 14.] The following day, Batchu appeared in Connecticut Superior Court and was charged with three counts of sexual assault in the second degree in connection with his statutory rape of Minor A on May 1. [SA 14.] He was again released on bail, this time on the condition that he have no contact with any child under the age of 18. [SA 14.]

Batchu was undeterred. He remained in contact with Minor A, communicating with her daily over the phone and internet for hours on end. [SA 17.] On July 22, Minor A’s family went to Florida on vacation. [SA 17.] Tipped off to the family trip by Minor A, Batchu flew to Florida, rented a car and a hotel room, and surreptitiously met with Minor A several times over the next few days, repeatedly engaging in sexual intercourse with her. [SA 17-18.] Before he returned to Chicago, Batchu told Minor A that she could refuse to testify against him and that if anyone asked she should deny ever having had sex with him. [SA 18, A 293.]

[5]*5The two continued to communicate remotely until August 3, when Batchu flew to Connecticut for an appearance in Superior Court on his sexual assault charges for the May 1 encounter. [SA 18-19.] Instead of remaining in Connecticut, Batchu rented a car and drove to meet Minor A in a shopping mall in Massachusetts, where the two engaged in sexual intercourse inside a fitting room at a department store. [SA 19.] They were walking together through the mall when they encountered members of Minor A’s family, who had called the police. [SA 19.] Batchu was arrested for violating the restraining order barring him from contact with Minor A. A search of his car recovered a computer and a flash memory drive, which contained additional sexually explicit video flies of Minor A that Batchu had surreptitiously recorded while webchatting with her, photographs of Batchu and Minor A kissing in Florida, and hundreds of images of child pornography. [SA 19-21.]

Batchu was subsequently indicted on eight federal counts related to his sexual conduct with Minor A. [A 24-32.] On May 7, 2011, he pled guilty to five of them: one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent that she engage in criminal sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), three counts of traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b), and one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). The plea agreement stipulated that Batchu’s offense level would be increased by two because he had willfully obstructed the administration of justice. [A 241.] See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
724 F.3d 1, 2013 WL 3752991, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 14545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-batchu-ca1-2013.