Jason Vukovich, who was born on June 25, 1975, to a single mother in Anchorage, Alaska, was subsequently adopted by Larry Lee Fulton, the second husband of his mother. However, Fulton assumed the position of Vukovich’s ab*user as opposed to his protector.
Later, in a letter to the Anchorage Daily News, Vukovich stated, “Both of my parents were devout Christians who eagerly attended two to three church services per week with us.” “Therefore, you can imagine the terror and bewilderment I felt when the man who had adopted me started molesting me through late, late-night ‘prayer’ sessions.”
Besides subjecting Vukovich to se*xual abu*se, Fulton also resorted to physical aggression. Wooden pieces and belts were utilized to afflict the child. His brother testified at Vukovich’s trial years later regarding the ordeals they endured as children. Joel Fulton remarked, “We would roll over on the bunk beds and lean against the wall.” “I was responsible for proceeding first in order to ensure that he would abstain from Jason.”
Their father was acquitted of second-degree child abu*se in 1989; however, he did not face incarceration. Subsequent to that, no one visited the family, per Vukovich, to inquire about their well-being.
Vukovich and his sibling escaped at the age of 16, given that the maltreatment had persisted until that juncture.
Through the Alaska s*ex offenders registry, Jason Vukovich was able to find his victims after committing a number of crimes in June 2016. Vukovich threatened, attacked, and stole from men who were on the s*ex offender registry for crimes like having child pornography or trying to se*xually abu*se a child.
According to court records, Vukovich went to the homes of the se*x offenders listed at those addresses, broke in, hurt the people who lived there, and stole from the defendants. When the victim of Vukovich’s third theft tried to fight back, he hit him four or five times with a hammer. The person had a severe brain injury, according to court records.
In a letter to the Alaska Dispatch News that came out after he was arrested, Vukovich said that he had been se*xually ab*used as a child and had been on the hunt for other people who had done the same thing. For two counts, one of attempted first-degree assault and one of first-degree robbery, he agreed to a plea deal with the government. Vukovich got a 28-year prison sentence in 2018, but five years of that were suspended and he had to do five years of probation.
After the verdict, Vukovich has fought it, saying that his PTSD should have been taken into account as a reason why his crimes were less serious. When Vukovich was sentenced, he said that the court should have taken into account the fact that his PTSD was caused by being se*xually ab*used as a child.
In his appeal, Vukovich said that the court should have known that he was “under some degree of pressure” when he did these things. “Vukovich was diagnosed with the disorder five years ago, and a doctor testified that Vukovich’s behaviors “were consistent with someone who suffered from PTSD,” the appeal’s summary says.
The court said Vukovich did not meet the requirements for a statutory mitigator because he did not provide enough evidence that he was under stress, coercion, threat, or compulsion when he committed the crimes.
Vukovich said that the court punishment should be questioned because it was unfair and wasn’t meant to help him get better. As before, the court said Vukovich’s case was weak because he couldn’t show that his actions were “primarily the outcome of untreated PTSD.”
