That judge needs to be removed from the bench. He’s a psychopath.
You’d have to become familiar with the entire context of the story to even begin to understand why the judge might have ruled this way.
The man was convicted of a lesser charge without a trial — a plea bargain that many people might well take if innocent because the cost of losing at trial is so great. It is clear that the judge in this case determined that the prior conviction was not indicative of reality. He could well have been wrong, but he didn’t ignore it.
And the mother of this child was shut out for another reason. There was a charge made that this man had abused another child. Evidence was then presented which suggested that charge was made up by the mother in order to win the custody battle. Again, we have no way of knowing who is lying.
BUT, I think we could understand why, if a mother lies about sex abuse in order to win custody of a child, that a judge might decide to punish the mother by granting custody to the falsely accused party. I think a child should not be punished by removal from the mother, but I understand why others might not think that.
Sometimes, when something looks entirely outrageous, it is because we don’t have all the facts presented to us. Or it could be the judge was crazy.