Sex offender wins lottery held to raise money for sexual abuse victimsCNN WIRE
Tuesday, January 13th 2009, 11:29 AM
An Alaska lottery held to raise money for a group that helps sexual abuse victims had a surprise winner: a convicted sex offender.
Alec Ahsoak -- who was convicted in 1993 and 2000 for sexual abuse of a minor, according to the state sex offender registry -- came forward Saturday with the winning ticket for the $500,000 Lucky Time Pull Tabs jackpot.
Proceeds of the lottery help Standing Together Against Rape in Anchorage, a nonprofit group that offers support to sexual assault victims among other services.
''It's not how we had envisioned the story going,'' Nancy Haag, the group's executive director, told CNN Radio.
Alaska has the highest per capita number of rape cases in the United States, according to FBI statistics.
''With a ranking that high, it's ironic that the person who wins is a convicted sex offender,'' Haag added.
Ahsoak's past was first revealed by KTUU-TV in Anchorage on Sunday. His attorney, Lance Wells, did not immediately return a call Monday from CNN.
Efforts to reach lottery organizer Abe Spicola, who owns Lucky Times Pull Tabs, were unsuccessful late Monday. But Spicola told the Anchorage Daily News that Ahsoak ''was going to buy a house and said he was going to donate part of it to God, and you know charity.''
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