Letters to the Editor
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From Anonymous II
O.K. The point I was making is that there is a sentencing tariff for every offense and that there are different points on the continuum that determine how severe a sentence will be. It is the judge's job to make that determination according to a number of aggravating or mitigating factors.
If you go to the BBC Web site and type in "Judge Julian Hall" it will bring up a whole list of cases in which this judge has sentenced people, and sometimes there has been disagreement.
In one case a mother avoided jail after being convicted of arson attack on her husband's trailer, in which her 10-year-old daughter accidentally died. The child had helped her mother buy the gasoline for the purpose! The husband had previously broken the wife's jaw by kicking it.
In another case a mother who killed her own thirteen-year-old daughter while drunk driving was given a light sentence of six months in jail because she had a seven-year-old daughter who desperately needed her, though not for the school run, apparently, as the mother also got a five-year driving ban. Her estranged husband protested that the sentence was too lenient.
In other stories, a child rapist who videotaped himself abusing children got a life sentence with a recommendation of no consideration for parole for at least 15 years.
In yet another case a priest who was spotted by a member of the public looking at kiddie porn images on his laptop on a train was given a comunity service order and not jailed. Naturally, as befits his trade, he was repentant. The judge commented that the number of images on his computer was small compared to the average in such cases.
In another case a man who strangled his girlfriend after an argument about her lesbian affair with his cousin got seven years in prison. The killing took place on the day of a family wedding where alcohol had been drunk and the girlfriend taunted the defendant by comparing his sexual prowess unfavorably to that of his female cousin.
So do I think the women who got off light should have been hanged? No, of course not. But it is clear that the judge takes all the factors into account when he sentences, and there is not evidence at all that he is a pedophile, as at least one poster has suggested.
Of course the Supreme Court of Salon will pronounce a fatwah on the judge regardless.
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Abuse of male children
Thank you for your post, Allie. I think it is the appropriate response to a sickening decision by this judge. As adults, we should be concerned about adults who prey on any children in our community, regardless of the children's sex. To relegate a boy's pain to the background while focusing on molestation of a girl is to devalue and denigrate a boy's pain, and serves to place a "higher price" on a female child over that of a male child.
In the real world, this usually results in resources, research and activity to remedy the girls' situations while ignoring the plight of male victims. We have already seem how discriminatory this is in the feminist treatment of domestic violence, which, across the country denies state monies to programs to help male victims, while pouring resources into programs that treat only female victims of domestic violence.
For information on abuse of male children and the devastating effects it can have, see the publications linked to at this link:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/maleabus_e.html
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so if it's all about the girls I guess boys should be be able to consent to GAY sex starting at age 12 13 or 14
you say that males don't exist to give pleasure to females but apparently they DO exist EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF FACILITATING THE PROPER EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF FEMALES. Thanks for confirming my point that age of consent laws have nothing do with the development or interests of males.
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"Are you advocating all women that have slept with a minor should be immediately imprisoned for the full sentence ?"
At the time of sentencing, all women who have been convicted should receive the exact same sort of sentence that a man would receive if convicted of the same acts. Furthermore, current law needs to be as vigilant in the prosecution of female sex offenders as the law is of male sex offenders.
(That judges and juries may sometimes see things differently is not the fault of the laws.)
People who want to make this issue about gender or feminism are missing the point. Female perpetrators should be prosecuted for their actual acts just as should male perpetrators be prosecuted. Little boys should be just as protected by law as our little girls.
Let us not forget that the original article mentions a 6 year old and a ten year old. This is not about teenagers. This is not about gay issues. This is about child molestation.
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"the same as a man"
"At the time of sentencing, all women who have been convicted should receive the exact same sort of sentence that a man would receive if convicted of the same acts. "
That doesn't answer the question. I assume you are arguing this point because you feel the judge was too lenient. As you well know, sentencing is done on a case by case basis. IMO the reason you feel it is too lenient is YOUR gender perspective and feminist views.
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@Allie:
You wrote: "The laws are there not primarily to prevent children from becoming mothers (forced birth control, abortion after the fact or adoption would all work, if that were the only point) but to protect children from the power imbalance inherent in a child's interactions with adults."
Thank you for making the most important point in this thread. In the past, I had the occasion to speak with women who were in counseling. (A counselor called me in because I was a victim advocate.) Many of these women had been sexually abused as children. They had never recovered from the experience. It had impacted their choices and their relationships for years after the event(s). These were extremely wounded people.
However, child sexual abuse does not just damage the children. In one group that I spoke with a woman (who had horror etched upon her face and looked fifteen years old than her actual age) told how her ex-husband had anally raped their six month old child, which resulted in the child's death. I also once spoke by telephone to a stepfather who was utterly devastated that an accused child murderer out on bail had so damaged the body of his stepdaughter that the five year old had to have a hysterectomy.
I have known three women who fled marriages where their husband had sexually abused their children. These women did every thing in their power to protect their children, but only two of them succeeded. In the third case -- even though there was photographic evidence of the children having been used by their father for ponography -- the children were returned to the custody of the father (early 1990s). He had money and he had powerful friends in law enforcement. What happened to the evidence? The DA managed to lose it.
I also dated a man who had been sexually abused and, although, he never wanted to talk much about the incident, I suspect his abuser was a woman. He was a very nice guy and a bit of a rescuer. He actually adopted his ex-wife's little girls and was a nurturing father to them.
I know that part of the reason that I have met so many people with this background is due to my volunteer activities, but I don't really think molestation is all that rare. As a teen, a close friend confided in me that her father was molesting her and had been for years. I remember having no idea what to say to her. At the time, I didn't know CPS even existed.
Pedophiles seems to have lots of excuses: "It was what she was wearing." "He kept looking at me; I knew what he wanted." "Children get turned on too." Young gay males should have the right to express themselves sexually with forty year old men." "I thought she was older. What am I supposed to do? Card her?"
I remember one guy I interviewed as a CASA. In that capacity, I was always warm, friendly, empathic, and encouraging to everyone I dealt with (except one creepy foster father), and I was interviewing the father in a case that involved the termination of parental rights for the purposes of adoption. I told him that I really wanted to understand his history and hear his side of things. The conversation meandered and, amazingly, he eventually told me that he liked to have sex best with girls of about 13 or 14. I can remember trying very consciously not to let my expression change. "Yes," I said, "and what is that like." He replied, "Oh, it's really good. They don't try to tell me what to do in bed like older women do."
Please understand. I had told him I would be writing a report to the court and I had made clear that our conversation did not involve confidentiality. Either he really wanted to talk or I must have one of those faces.