Vice President Kamala Harris has portrayed herself as a champion of women throughout her career, but that image is now in jeopardy with the election just seven days away.
Details of a gruesome plea deal in a rape case brokered by the assistant district attorney while she was prosecutor, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, are calling into question her commitment to protecting women.
In 2008, Lillian Gradillas found herself on a party bus late at night after being denied entry to a nightclub because she did not have proper identification to enter with the rest of her family and friends.
The driver, Gustavo Rosales, attacked Gradillas several times on the bus before violently raping her despite her attempt to repel his advances, according to court testimony.
At the time, Rosales was “in the United States illegally, convicted of assaulting his wife, evading his child support obligations and not qualified to drive a bus,” according to the plaintiff’s complaint filed in a civil suit against the company.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally on October 28 in Michigan
Gradillas testified at the sentencing hearing and revealed details of that night.
“I live with the constant memory of that terrible night,” she said, describing it as her “longest nightmare.”
She revealed that she had lost her job, received lower grades in school and was heavily medicated as she struggled to keep her family together.
Rosales entered into a plea deal with attorneys reporting to Kamala Harris and pleaded guilty to the crime.
As a result, Rosales was sentenced to only three years in prison.
The details of the brutal and terrifying rape, including her personal testimony, were not enough to earn Rosales a harsher sentence.
Vice President Kamala Harris has portrayed herself as a champion of women throughout her career
New San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, right, receives with her mother Dr. Shyamala Gopalan a copy of the Bill of Rights, the oath of office of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George
Rosales was released early in 2010 for good behavior just a year after his conviction after serving more than a year since the first arrest in 2008.
Sources told DailyMail.com that even in a plea deal, Rosales should have been sentenced to at least seven years in prison, and that he could easily have been sent to prison for longer if he had previously committed a domestic violence offense alleged in the civil complaint named.
“It’s stunningly remarkable,” a lawyer familiar with the case told DailyMail.com. “It’s so low.”
Kamala Harris meets with supporters in front of the 24th Street BART station while on the campaign trail
The cover of Kamala Harris’ first book ‘Smart on Crime’, published in 2009
Then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris poses for a portrait in San Francisco, June 18, 2004
California state representative Bilal Essayli told DailyMail.com that the sentence was “extremely light.”
“This man has received the lowest possible sentence he can get for committing rape and I don’t understand how you can justify that with his previous criminal conviction and the fact that he is in the country unlawfully,” he said.
The case and plea agreement were filed and approved by Assistant District Attorney Adrian Ivancevich.
Normally, an assistant district attorney would be given guidelines for plea deals, Essayli said, but for anything out of the ordinary, Harris would have to personally approve it.
“No matter what happens, she is responsible for every institution that comes out of that office because she is a leader of that office,” he said.
It is unclear where Rosales is today as he last lived in Sacramento in 2010, according to records.
DailyMail.com reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not hear back.
Years later, the case was taken to civil court where Gradillas was awarded $2 million for the incident in 2012 after finding the business owner and the company’s insurance company liable. according to to Court News.
After campaigning as a “progressive” prosecutor, Harris relied on plea deals to uphold her convictions when she was San Francisco’s district attorney.
The San Francisco Weekly reported in 2010, Harris had won only 55 percent of murder cases since early 2009, and in the first quarter of 2010, her office’s conviction rate for all felony cases was just 53 percent.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has continually talked about illegal immigrants committing crimes during their campaign.
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Trump spoke to supporters and the press on Friday about criminal migrants who murdered a young girl
He has spoken out against immigrant crime, especially in places like Aurora, Colorado, where rumors of a Venezuelan gang breaking into apartment complexes have gone viral.
“They’re invading with weapons that exceed even military reach and they’re taking over apartment buildings,” Trump said of Aurora in North Carolina last week. “They are literally taking over those cities.”
“Thousands of migrants from the most dangerous countries are destroying the character of small towns and leaving local communities in fear and despair,” he said, speaking of communities in battleground states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
He has even proposed a shocking, one-time solution to America’s crime problems that some say resembles the popular horror movie series The Purge.
At a rally last month, Trump cited recent incidents of daylight robberies that took place at local businesses, suggesting criminals “need to be taught” a lesson and proposing a quick and easy way to do so.
‘If you had one really violent day. In a tough hour – and I mean really tough – the word would get out and it would end immediately,” Trump said.