Molester’s sentence leads to cries of injustice

[jamesrage]

How is it that a state such as ours that made repeat child molesters who rape/molest children 12 years old or younger subject to the death penalty or life in prison for the second offense suddenly become Vermont?


http://www.mcalesternews.com/homepage/local_story_164191511.html?keyword=leadpicturestory

Kathryn Cole considered it harmless horseplay when her granddaughter, who had just turned 5, reached over and touched her breast during a dinner at her home last September.

She corrected the child's behavior anyway.

What the girl said next revealed a horrible secret that later would garner national headlines involving the granddaughter, her year-older brother and the man who was their baby-sitter.

"Gramma, it's OK," the girl said, according to an account the grandmother gave police. "David Earls touches me there."

David Harold Earls, 64, a twice convicted felon, had watched the children during weekends while their mother worked.

He recently admitted raping and sodomizing the girl in return for serving one year in the county jail, with credit for time he has already spent behind bars since his arrest nine months ago.

Judge Thomas Bartheld ordered the sentence under a plea bargain agreement recommended by Earls' lawyer and Assistant District Attorney Lisa Birdwell.

The agreement has touched off a major controversy over criminal justice in McAlester, including calls for the removal of the judge from office. The state attorney general has also launched an inquiry into the case.

Actually, the judge imposed a sentence of 20 years in prison, but he suspended 19 of those years. He also fined Earls $1,000.

"Some people think I could have given a different sentence, and I couldn't," said District Judge Thomas Bartheld. "In any plea bargain, where there is a negotiated plea, the court can't change it."

[guido911]

"Some people think I could have given a different sentence, and I couldn't," said District Judge Thomas Bartheld. "In any plea bargain, where there is a negotiated plea, the court can't change it."

Of course, the court omits how this case was forced into a plea bargain because of his decisions on forcing live testimony by the 5 year old witness in the presence of her rapist.

http://www.mcalesternews.com/local/local_story_157175737.html

I also heard on the radio today that his own daughter said she was raped by this mother f*cker.

[brianh]

Of course, the court omits how this case was forced into a plea bargain because of his decisions on forcing live testimony by the 5 year old witness in the presence of her rapist.

http://www.mcalesternews.com/local/local_story_157175737.html

I also heard on the radio today that his own daughter said she was raped by this mother f*cker.

The Judge's daughter? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest in that case then?

[Breadburner]

The Judge's daughter? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest in that case then?

You can't be that dense....

[Cherish]

You can't be that dense....

LOL, that is pretty sick though.  Castrate that mofo.

[custosnox]

LOL, that is pretty sick though.  Castrate that mofo.

Castrate?  No, for people like this, I don't think they shoudl be protected from torture like others.  The punishment that these folks deserve I don't think are even legel in places like North Korea

[Wilbur]

While we can all be outraged by SOME of the facts, all sides agreed to this plea deal way before it ever got to the judge.  All sides include the prosecutor, the defendant and the victim's family.  To solely blame the judge seems a little weird to me.

Yes, the judge can over rule the plea deal, and, yes, the defendant can withdraw his agreement to plead guilty if the judge refuses the deal.