PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for strangling and raping a woman on July 4, 2020, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said.
Sidney Hicklin Jr., 43, was sentenced in Clallam County Superior Court to the high end of the 102- to 136-month sentencing range Thursday.
He was convicted of single counts of second-degree rape with forcible compulsion, second-degree assault by strangulation, felony harassment and unlawful imprisonment after a four-day trial in early June, court papers said.
Superior Court Judge Lauren Erickson sentenced Hicklin to 136 months — 11 years, four months — and community custody for life.
“After carefully weighing all the evidence heard at trial, the severity of the defendant’s conduct, and the impact on the survivor, the court imposed the right sentence,” said Matthew Roberson, the Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney who handled the case.
“Mr. Hicklin’s conduct speaks for itself and he received the most severe sentence that the court could impose under Washington’s laws.
“I just want to credit the courage shown by the survivor in coming forward and testifying about what the defendant did to her,” Roberson added in a press release.
“At the end of the day, her strength and the good investigation by the Port Angeles Police Department ensured Mr. Hicklin would be held accountable for his unacceptable behavior.”
The state Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board (ISRB) will determine if Hicklin should be released at the end of his prison term.
The ISRB has the discretion to keep Hicklin in prison for life.
Port Angeles police said Hicklin became angry at a female friend after she could not produce his debit card following a trip from a convenience store on Fourth of July of last year. Hicklin had been drinking alcohol and using methamphetamine before the crimes occurred, court papers said.
Hicklin got on top of the woman and began to strangle her on a couch at his mother’s residence on the 900 block of East Ninth Street while questioning her about the card, according to the court documents.
He threatened to kill the woman by saying “I will end you,” Officer J.J. Smith wrote in the affidavit for probable cause.
The woman was able to convince Hicklin to stop the sexual assault so she could look for his debit card or find money to give him, police said.
“Once Hicklin let her up, she was able to escape,” Roberson said.
At sentencing, a victim’s representative described the impact that Hicklin’s actions had on the woman, telling the court that she would live with the events for the rest of her life, Roberson said.
“The survivor described how she continues to deal with insomnia, nightmares, and fear that prevents her from resuming a normal life,” Roberson said.
Hicklin did not address the court at his sentencing.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.