The family of a girl who authorities say suffered years of sexual abuse by a relative is taking the unusual step of waging a legal fight against a Virginia prosecutor to try to win a longer sentence for the defendant. Support our journalism.... They have filed a motion objecting to the plea deal.“ They put more importance on the defendants than on the victims, ” the girl’s father said of Descano’s office.... In Los Angeles, a handful of crime victims has been part of an effort to recall Distri

The Fairfax County judge told the girl who sat sobbing in his courtroom Monday that she had been victimized twice — once by the man who had sexually abused her for years and a second time by the prosecutors who handled her case. Support our journalism.... Prosecutors also said he abused a second girl who was not a relative. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement But Mann said he was reluctantly accepting the plea deal because it did not “ shock the conscience, ” the standard by which