O.C. judge who gave lenient sentence to molester is asked to resign

[alp227]

Source: LA Times

Orange County supervisors officially called for the resignation of a Superior Court judge who sentenced a convicted child molester to 10 years in prison rather than the minimum 25 years that state law requires.

In handing down the sentence this month, Kelly said the molester seemed remorseful for his actions and didn’t fit the profile of a sexual predator -- a line of reasoning that elicited swift outcry from the public and politicians alike. The defendant was convicted of molesting a 3-year-old girl.

The victim's mother, who is related to the defendant, had asked that he receive probation so that he could get help.

Supervisor Andrew Do said that by approving the resolution, which carries no official weight, the governing body was giving voice to the people they represent.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-supervisors-vote-to-demand-resignation-20150421-story.html

[Kalidurga]

1. Good

I hope the perp gets the full 25 eventually and the judge resigns. Quite frankly the judge sickens me as much as the perp. At least the perp has some kind of functioning issue, I haven't seen it written anywhere what that issue is specifically. I suspect that the perp has been in need of mental health services and those services were not forthcoming.

[mikehiggins]

2. It shouldn't have taken this long.

This person should have be impeached forthwith.

[BeanMusical]

3. Wouldn't be surprised to learn that this judge is also a perv.

[Helen Borg]

4. I find it interesting that the mother asked for probation

so he could get help. This must mean something. She was related to him, knew him, it seems. Well enough to be convinced that he could get better through some help. It must not have been easy for her to come to that conclusion, since her little girl had been molested. I'm sure that part of her wanted him in jail for life. Probably, the judge took all this into account in his decision... That's what judges do, the law was not written to take into account personal circumstances.

[Cal33]

9. I agree. Not every possible circumstance variation could be written into the laws.

[ripcord]

12. The tbree year old girl is his half sister

So the victims mother is also his mother, so the lesson to pedophiles is to molesters family members.

[demwing]

5. What's the point of mandatory sentencing laws

if the sentencing isn't mandatory?

Judges shouldn't be tasked with enforcing a law, that's a job for prosecutors and police. Judges should be judged on their ability to show sound judgement.

Was this judgement sound?

10 years for a child molester will be a rough ten years in any prison...he'll be on every convict's dance card.

[NCjack]

6. The judge should be asked to serve the missing 15 years in prison. nt

[Cal33]

10. You are right. Some people seem to have vengeance foremost in their mind.

[Nay]

8. If that poor child's mother doesn't want the molester thrown in prison forever, that

little girl is still in danger. I don't care if the molester is a relative. Good God. If a relative of mine had EVER molested my 3-yr-old, I'd want him to be put under the jail for, oh, 100 years.

[Larry Engels]

11. What, then should be the penalty for murder?

If child molesting deserves 100 years, what should the penalty be for intentionally and wrongfully killing someone? 1000 years? Do you see the problem here?

[Nay]

15. This is just IMO, but most murders are one-offs -- yes, a person is dead, but the

murderer generally does not commit murder to sexually get off from it (excepting serial killers, of course). Thus, there is a real possibility that most murderers will not ever murder again if given appropriate counseling and treatment (the Nordic countries are very good at this).

However, pedophiles are NOT generally treatable. The urge never seems to go away, and it also seems to be uncontrollable in most cases. Sending such a person out into the general public almost guarantees that he will offend again. The pedophile will leave a trail of damaged children in his wake, some of whom he may kill if he decides more sexual excitement would result. So, in some ways, they are worse than murderers if you count up the victims.

I just don't think that these two crimes can be compared the way you have compared them.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. Everyone seems to forget the guy is still getting 10 YEARS IN PRISON.

[Oktober]

14. Which is about 60 years short...