Ramona man gets 90-day prison study

A 20-year-old Ramona man who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer is doing a 90-day diagnostic study at a state prison where officials will make a recommendation as to whether he should be sent to prison or allowed back on probation.

On Feb. 10, Joshua Younessian was sentenced to 270 days in jail and placed on three years probation by San Diego Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis. But his probation was revoked Aug. 19 after he was accused of violating terms of his probation and was back in jail, according to court records.

On Sept. 11, Younessian admitted to violating one term of his probation and Judge Gale Kaneshiro ordered him to undergo the prison study. She will look at what prison officials recommend for his sentencing before her which is now set for Jan. 8, 2010.

Younessian was barred from using the Internet, ordered to abstain from alcohol and required to report any contact with law enforcement to his probation officer. Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello said he didn’t recall which probation violation that Younessian admitted to doing, and the records were not clear which one it was.

Younessian could get a maximum three year prison term, according to court records, but he does not have a prior criminal record. A prison study is often given to younger defendants as a taste of what prison is like so they will be law abiding in the future.

When he was sentenced on Feb. 10, Younessian’s attorney told the judge his client “was bored and had broken up with his girlfriend” when he looked at child pornography on the Internet. Lewis told the attorney that looking at such images is not something done out of boredom.