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Chippendales dancer cops a plea By Chris Bristol A touring Chippendales dancer accused of sexually assaulting a Medford woman after a show has agreed to a deal that sidesteps a lengthy prison sentence at the expense of his pocketbook. Joseph William DiRese, 34, pleaded guilty by mail to a misdemeanor charge of sexual harassment and agreed to pay the woman a compensatory fine of $3,500. DiRese has been living with his father in New Jersey, and a Jackson County trial judge signed off on the unusual cross-continent deal late last week. In addition to the fine, DiRese was placed on two years of unsupervised probation and sentenced to 10 days in jail with credit for time served. Because he served 11 days before his release on bail, his jail sentence is done. DiRese previously claimed he was being railroaded. He faced a mandatory sentence of six years and three months in prison if convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, the most serious of four charges issued by a grand jury. Prosecutor Allan Smith said he approved the deal because the alleged victim told him the dancer never really tried to rape her and that, as a result, she was unhappy with the seriousness of the charges in the case. "It wasn�t a real aggravated kind of situation," Smith said. "I think the grand jury was more offended than she was." Chippendales spokesman Jerry Lucci in New York said he could remember only one other incident � in Los Angeles in the early 1980s � in which a Chippendales dancer was accused of sexually assaulting a patron. "We run a very, very tight ship," Lucci said. "There�s not a lot of room for error, because of who we are." DiRese, who used the stage name Joey Dean, was arrested Aug. 20 after the 23-year-old woman told police she had been attacked the night before in a motorhome parked outside the downtown nightclub Ground Zero. The woman said DiRese forced himself on her and nearly raped her before she was able to flee the motorhome, which was owned by the Chippendales. The alleged attack occurred shortly after the show ended. But company officials disputed the allegations, saying the woman�s boyfriend was a bouncer at the club and that he and other members of the club�s security team hounded her into making false allegations. They also complained the quick indictment was based only on the testimony of the woman and the police officer who made the arrest. "It really sounded like a case of jealousy and the law sort of rushing to judgment before all the facts were in," Lucci said Tuesday. DiRese is no longer with Chippendales. Lucci said DiRese was released after his troupe disbanded in November as part of an unrelated management shakeup. DiRese�s defense attorney, Jeni Feinberg, was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. But in a brief interview two weeks ago, Feinberg said she was convinced her client was innocent and that she reluctantly advised him to take the deal only because he faced a lengthy prison sentence if he lost the trial. Under Oregon�s Measure 11 sentencing law, first-degree sexual abuse is punishable by a mandatory prison term of 75 months. Parole or early release for any reason is forbidden. Like most defense attorneys in Oregon, Feinberg maintains a standing complaint that prosecutors use Measure 11 to coerce plea bargains. "Let�s say I give him the trial of the century ... and yet somehow the jury doesn�t see it our way and the guy sits in prison for six years for a crime he didn�t commit," she said. "How can I tell anybody with Measure 11 to take that risk?" Smith, a deputy Jackson County district attorney, said the woman�s purported relationship with the bouncer-boyfriend had no bearing on the case. He said the indictment was sought quickly because authorities could not hold DiRese indefinitely without one. The case was watered down when the victim later said the dancer was grabby but no rapist. "He was obviously looking for sex," Smith said. "I guess he got a little more aggressive than she felt he should have." Reach reporter Chris Bristol at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.