An admitted child molester is walking free in Bennington, Vermont and I’m mad as hell!
Andrew C. James, 37, of Manchester, was sentenced to serve 30 months to five years on Monday but all of the jail time was suspended by Bennington County District Court Judge David Howard. He will attend sex offender treatment instead. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $22.
By law, he could have received up to life in prison, a fine of up to $50,000 or both.
Instead, the prosecutor offered a plea agreement because he was concerned about the 4-year-old victim’s ability to testify.
James has been convicted twice for misdemeanor domestic assault in Vermont. He was sentenced to six to 12 months for both charges, with the jail time suspended. Instead he was placed on probation.
He was later arrested by the Chester Police Department in September 2003 and charged with aggravated domestic assault in the first degree, a felony, for attacking his wife with a screwdriver in front his two children. The charge was reduced to aggravated domestic assault in the second degree, also a felony, in January 2004. He was convicted of the latter charge and sentenced to two-to-four years in prison. All but 30 days of the sentence was suspended.
Now, I understand the logic behind a prosecutor’s unwillingness to go to trial with only the testimony of a 4 year old – I don’t necessarily agree with it that logic, but I do have the capacity to understand -- What I fail to understand is why this man wasn’t thrown into jail the very second he was arrested for molesting this child? As far as I'm concerned, this man is an habitual offender and should have been placed in prison to serve out the balance of his previous sentences the moment he was arrested for sexually molesting a 4 year old boy!
I’ll never understand how the court system and the victims rights' advocates can possibly expect to help end the cycle of abuse when we routinely and publicly diminish the impact of molestation on a child by letting the offender go free. Why in the world would a child seek out a responsible adult and entrust them with their deepest, most painful and shameful secrets, IF THE COURTS ARE JUST GOING TO LET THE PERVERTS WALK?! This child will soon learn, and never forget that his innocence was sold for $22 and a finger wagging (sorry, this sentence can't even be considered a "slap on the wrist").
So my question is this: are you as horrified as I am?
2007-01-17
03:30:49
·
5 answers
·
asked by
Anonymous
in
Current Events