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	Tate Awaits Sentence By Martin B. Cassidy Greenwich Times February 17, 2008 http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-tatefeb17,0,3456200.story Cooperating with federal authorities and receiving medical treatment might help former Christ Church Greenwich music director Robert F. Tate's prospects for avoiding prison for possession of child pornography this week, attorneys said. More than a year after pleading guilty, the 66-year-old former music director of Christ Church Greenwich faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport on Thursday. Last January Tate admitted to having collected more than 150 sexually explicit images of children, some of them under the age of 12. However, Tate's additional confession to sexually abusing minors could result in a harsher sentence, lawyers said. Since his guilty plea, Tate has been confined in a Minnesota facility which treats sex offenders. James Glasser, a New Haven-based criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor in Connecticut said that Tate's continued treatment for psychiatric problems might positively influence probation officials to indicate he is not likely to offend again. "Of course an effort to rehabilitate the behavior that was the cause of the original offense can help reduce what the ultimate sentence is," Glasser said. According to a court motion filed in a related case, Tate entered into a cooperation agreement with federal authorities shortly after his November 2006 arrest for possession of child pornography. Tate's defense attorney could ask for leniency arguing Tate's cooperation in the prosecution of Greenwich criminal defense attorney Philip Russell probably hastened Russell's guilty plea, Bruce Koffsky, a Stamford-based criminal defense attorney. Two months ago, Russell, a former lawyer for Christ Church Greenwich, was sentenced to probation for destroying Tate's computer in October 2006 to prevent federal investigators from finding child pornography on Tate's computer at the church. According to court papers, Tate was expected to testify at Russell's trial about his own previous history of sexual misconduct with minors, which could have soured a jury against Russell, Koffsky said. "Tate's attorney will shake his fist and say my client gets the benefit of Mr. Russell pleading guilty and that but for my client coming forward Mr. Russell might have gone to trial, " Koffsky said. Evidence that Tate sexually abused minors between 1972 and 1987 obtained by prosecutors, including having sex with child prostitutes from New York City in his Christ Church Greenwich apartment and with boys in Thailand and the Philippines could prompt a stiffer sentence, attorneys said. Federal judges have the latitude to consider "relevant conduct", which is most often similar offenses committed by a defendant that even if not prosecuted are considered to aggravate a crime, Stephan Seeger, a Stamford-based defense attorney said. "In a case like this one where someone is charged with possession of child pornography and found to have committed the same or similar behavior that exacerbates the crime it can hurt him (Tate) badly," Seeger said. Two months ago, U.S. Attorney Peter Jongbloed, who prosecuted both Tate and Russell, told U.S. District Court Judge Alan H. Nevas that a former Christ Church Greenwich employee had initially informed investigators that Tate had allegedly abused minors. It is not clear when Tate admitted sexually abusing minors, but his defense attorney Francis L. O'Reilly said last month Tate had acknowledged the behavior in treatment. Lawyers said that if investigators discovered the alleged sexual abuse from someone besides Tate, any earlier assurances of leniency could be withdrawn. "Plea and cooperation agreements are only as good as the premise on which they are based," Hartford-based criminal defense attorney William Dow said. "If probation officers and prosecutors find other information and offenses and bring it to the attention of the judge all bets are off." Nevas, who sentenced Russell and will sentence Tate, said he was sickened by Tate's reported pedophilia, which prosecutors detailed for Nevas in court two months ago. "I've never seen such an extensive history of child abuse as exhibited by Mr. Tate including trips overseas and bringing child prostitutes from New York to his apartment on church grounds," Nevas said during Russell's sentencing. "It turns your stomach." Even if prosecutors ask for leniency, Nevas is free to impose a stronger sentence if he thinks Tate's former history of sexual abuse of children warrants it, Seeger said. "That is part of the risk when deciding whether to tell the government anything," Seeger said. "While admitting those things might give him credit in terms of accepting responsibility it could be damaging when a judge considers it as relevant conduct." Prosecutors declined last week to specify what sentence they would seek for Tate.
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