Judge Protects Child Molester
A Nebraska judge who serves on a state commission for the protection of children refused to send a convicted child molester to jail because she feared the molester would not fare well in prison due to his diminutive size.
Convicted of two felony counts of child molestation, 50-year-old Richard Thompson got away with probation because Judge Kristine Cecava worried about his safety in prison. The judge said that she didn’t think the child molester would “do well” in prison because he is only 5-feet-1-inch tall, so she set him free despite his conviction for molesting a young girl.
Here is a snippet of the judge addressing the child molester from the sentencing hearing transcript: “So I’m sitting here thinking this guy has earned his way to prison but then I look at you and I look at your physical size. I look at your basic ability to cope with people and, quite frankly, I shake to think what might happen to you in prison because I don’t think you’ll do well in prison.”
Angered residents of Cheyenne County have launched a petition drive for the judge’s resignation and both the county attorney and Nebraska attorney general have appealed the outrageously lenient sentence.
In a national poll conducted by Zogby International, 92% of those surveyed blasted the Nebraska judge for letting a pedophile get away. The majority of respondents had no concern for the safety of a convict in prison, especially when they are sex offenders like Thomson.
One worldwide grassroots web site is urging Nebraska’s governor to get involved in an effort to seek justice for the victim and protect countless children that will be in contact with the “monster” during his probation.