Posted by
Jason on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 1:58:56 PM
Disclaimer: I'm just an average guy...
Here's what I think anyway... After sexually assaulting a 13-year old girl, Richard W. Thompson was sentenced to 10 years probation, even though he could have received up to 10 years in prison. And Judge Kristine Cecava's rationale for such a lenient sentence? She didn't think Thompson, who is only 5-feet-1-inch tall, would "do well in prison."
Attorney General Jon Bruning, rightfully suspecting that probation was far too light, immediately appealed the sentence. However, the Nebraska Court of Appeals has, just today, upheld Cecava's soft sentence, ruling that even though she sighted his height, she had other "valid reasons" for going easy on him.
For instance, a clinical psychologist examined him and determined that he would not "reoffend" because a test he was given to him which indicated he is, "neither a pedophile nor a sexual predator." I think that there's a certain 13-year-old Nebraska girl who might disagree with the psychologist's assessment.
So probation it is for this short, yet upstanding member of the Nebraska community. My guess is that he's willing to put all this behind him, and he'll be out fraternizing with "ladies" his size again, sometime soon...