Child molester gets probation because hes short.

[beakersloco]

Sorry if someone else has already posted this. It just burns me up ... how about a little justice ... let him see how if feels to be molested and not be able to do anything about it.


http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews.../469e90ce4dfab

Look Beyond The "Short" Story In Child Molestation Case - Look At The Law

By ED HOWARD / Analysis
July 18, 2007

Humankind has always been prone to mob mentality, mob judgment and mob behavior.
The historically classic American result is lynching. Its iconic status has been secured in volumes of newsprint, stacks of books, photos and film footage.
When masses jump to an understandably popular conclusion, sharing collective joy or outrage, they don’t respond well to evidence that the jumped-to conclusion was wrong.
They can be especially resentful when their disappointment is delivered by court decisions, based on established law.
And it is likely that a decision by the Nebraska Court of Appeals, involving a vertically challenged child molester, will register pretty high on the resentment meter.
It might even set Bill O’Reilly off on another uninformed rant that will rouse many among the rabble, but add nothing to public understanding of the case of Richard Thompson.
The Court of Appeals this week upheld a detailed 10-year sentence of intense probation for Thompson, whose case took on the status of scandal when, during sentencing, the trial judge commented on his 5-foot-1 stature.
The notion that swept the nation was that District Judge Kristine Cecava in Cheyenne County was worried about whether the little guy could take care of himself in prison, what with prison being a notoriously rough place.
Court transcripts show that she never mentioned his height or weight per se. She did refer his physical stature. She simultaneously alluded to concerns about his mental state; his ability to cope with people. Initial news reports led one to believe she saw Thompson’s height as the single and specific reason for his probation. That is not true.
Cecava later said she wished she had kept her mouth shut on that point. Talk about hindsight being 20/20.
But the fact is that being short did not keep Richard Thompson out of prison.
A variety of factors, having nothing to do with the judge or Thompson’s size, made Thompson eligible under the law for a sentence of probation.
Got that? The judge acted entirely within the scope of her legitimate discretion. Her determination was made within the law, based on pre-sentence reports that included all manner of information about Thompson, his background, the particulars of the case, psychological tests – the whole works.
Once the “short” story was published, however, the roar of the crowd drowned out other voices, the ones which were trying to explain matters of fact and law.
It was and is the perfect story for talk radio, jelly-headed talking heads … and the mob in general.
What conclusion do they still want to draw, and scream it to the heavens?
“A bleeding-heart judge let a child molester stay out of prison because the pervert is a runt, and he might get hurt!”
The fact is that being short did not keep Richard Thompson out of prison.
Anyone is entitled to the view that Thompson, 52, should go to prison for fondling a 13-year-old girl. It is a safe bet that most of us think so.
Taking one with another, convicted child molesters are extremely fortunate that they are not subject to the rough justice that many (if not most) of us would prescribe. And most of us are not troubled by the perceived tradition of child molesters being assaulted by other inmates.
The outraged among the citizenry have a duty, if they are true to themselves and their beliefs, to bombard state senators and the governor with complaints about parameters of the existing law – and to demand that it be changed.
If you want mandatory minimum sentences for any crime involving harm to a child, you should hit the e-mail, flood the snail mail, get on the telephone. Tell policymakers that judges should have no discretion in sentencing child molesters, regardless of any mitigating circumstances.
Such might change the law, but it won’t change this:
The fact is that being short did not keep Richard Thompson out of prison.
Once the public got a whiff of the story, and that’s all they really got, the local prosecutor acted with the fortitude so often reflected in the halls of Congress. He rolled over and whined, rather like a dog pleading that he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to make wee-wee on the carpet.
County Attorney Paul Schaub offered Thompson a plea bargain, agreeing not to make a sentencing recommendation. In other words, the prosecutor said: “If Thompson pleads guilty, my office won’t ask for a prison sentence. We’ll let the judge look at the evidence and the reports, and make her decision without advice or a request from me.”
When “the people” don’t ask that a criminal be taken off the street, it presumably means the prosecutor believes justice can otherwise be served. As part of a plea agreement, Schaub had agreed not to make any recommendation on sentencing.
Thompson received probation.
Enter Attorney General Jon Bruning, who appealed the sentence as being too lenient.
The Appeals Court, or the State Supreme Court, can increase or decrease a sentence handed down by a lower court judge.
In upholding Cecava’s decision this week, the Appeals Court decision went to extraordinary lengths – in extremely plain language – to explain the details of the case, the recommendations that were made and the specifics of applicable law.
You should read the decision. It isn’t complicated, and it is very detailed in explaining the case.
What needs to be understood, in fairness to everyone:
No useful purpose is served by seizing upon one part of a criminal case, a part that happens to push at least a half-dozen societal buttons, and pretending that it stands alone, somehow apart from the law and the entire criminal justice system.

[bat54r]

I don't care if they are 3' 1" or 10' 1" . Child molesters should have one and only one punishment. DEATH!! There is no lower form of scum on the planet, and this slap on the wrist bullsh!t as got to go. Every year there are more and more cases and most are repeat offenders. Hmmmm just a thought but if they weren't around after the first offense seems to me a lot of children would never have to go through the mental and physical anguish these low life worthless POS wastes of O2 put upon their victims. And maybe if death was certain upon conviction it might deter some of these low lifes from ever commiting the crime.

[shipwreck]

I am a probation officer - I printed out an MSNBC article about this guy when this first happened. It's still on our bulletin board...

[Uncle Giggles]

Originally Posted by beakersloco

He rolled over and whined, rather like a dog pleading that he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to make wee-wee on the carpet.

That had me laughing for much longer than I expected