I spend quite a bit of time watching the news. It’s mainly for the fact that I like to stay on top of current events but it’s also based on the fact that there’s nothing good on television anymore. I was watching CNN last night, maybe even MSNBC, because lord knows there’s enough news channels. I came across a story that not only disturbed me, but pissed me off to absolutely no end.

Judge rules sex offender is too short for prison
SIDNEY, Neb. – A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.

This man was charged on six documented counts of sexually assaulting a 13 year-old girl. He’s 52 years old and yes, 5 foot 1 inches tall. The judge then went on to state “I shudder to think of what would happen to you in prison”.

Uhm…HELLO!? He raped a 13 year-old girl, on multiple accounts and just because there are only 6 documented doesn’t mean there weren’t more behind it. I really could care less about how short he is, if you lack enough of a brain to drag your 52 year-old ass over to a 13 year-old girl then you deserve to be in jail with the rest of your kind – burdens on society.

His crimes deserved a long sentence, District Judge Kristine Cecava said, but she worried that Richard W. Thompson, 50, would be especially imperiled by prison dangers.

“You are a sex offender, and you did it to a child,” she said. “That doesn’t make you a hunter. You do not fit in that category.”

He’s not a hunter? He raped a fucking child and he’s not a hunter? Based on other reports that I’ve read, this girl is extremely messed up because of these acts. Knowing that this poor child is scarred for life, how does this not make him a damn hunter?

Another thing that burns me – because yes, this story continues.

Thompson will be electronically monitored the first four months of his probation, and he was told to never be alone with someone under age 18 or date or live with a woman whose children were under 18. Cecava also ordered Thompson to get rid of his pornography. He faces 30 days of jail each year of his probation unless he follows its conditions closely.

And the kicker:

“I want control of you until I know you have integrated change into your life,” the judge told Thompson. “I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced.”

You can easily have fucking control over a person if you put them in jail where they belong. Do the crime, pay the fucking time!

A live-vote on msnbc.com (where the bulk of this article came from) has a poll up with the question:

“Do you agree this man should be kept out of prison?”

There are currently 72,656 responses to this poll. 3% of them said “Yes, the judge still gave the defendant sufficient punishment”. The people with a brain – 97% – said that “No, being small does not make a person exempt from jail.”

How exactly is 10 years of probation considered a sufficient punishment? This judge is almost as fucking stupid as the one who keeps letting Paris out of jail. Oh sure, she’s on probation in a multi million dollar home with her fluffy pillows and maid service – I swear she’s really being punished!

Probation means shit, send him to jail to be raped the same way he took advantage of that girl.

What do you think? Should he be in jail or is probation enough?