CANYON CITY – A Long Creek man sentenced to prison three years ago for sexually abusing two girls was resentenced for his crimes last week in Grant County Circuit Court.

In 2006, Judge William D. Cramer Jr. sentenced Robert D. Joiner, 56, to nearly 33 years in prison – with additional time to be served concurrently – for incidents involving two girls over a period of several years.

The sentence came after a jury found Joiner guilty of five counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of attempted unlawful sexual penetration, and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

Joiner subsequently appealed his conviction on those charges and challenged the sentences imposed by the court.

The Oregon Court of Appeals rejected his arguments on all the convictions except one: first-degree sexual penetration. The court reversed that charge, but found that the evidence supported a lesser charge of attempted first-degree sexual penetration.

The court affirmed the convictions for the other charges, and ordered the case back to Grant County for resentencing on those counts in addition to the new count of attempted penetration.

Cramer last week told Joiner that the sentence would be as rigorous as the one issued in 2006, except for the one charge. The change in that charge cut about 3-1/2 years off the total sentence, with Joiner still facing 29 years and five months in prison.

Cramer could have cut more off the sentence, but opted not to because of the lingering effects of the abuse on the two victims and because of “the fact that you can’t look them in the eye and say you did what they said.”

In addition, he noted that the sentence includes 200 months – more than 16 years – that aren’t eligible for reduction due to time served or good behavior. That part of the sentence stems from incidents that occurred after the onset of Measure 11, which tightened sentencing guidelines for serious crimes.

The mother of the two girls gave an emotional statement to the court, saying that her daughters are now adults but still struggle because of the abuse.

She said one still calls her two or three times a day, to “touch back,” and the other is still endeavoring “to not be afraid of the dark.”

“They’re wonderful young women,” she told the court. “They were beautiful little girls, and they didn’t deserve any of this.”

Joiner briefly addressed his victims in court, saying, “The past can never be changed … The only thing I can say to them is, ‘I’m sorry.'”