The prosecuter had to try. I think it's pretty obvious what a danger to children this creep is.
Oh, I agree that they had to put him on trial. I think there were some serious problems with the way they conducted the trial, including the charges that they brought.
You go to trial with what you can prove. Capone went down on tax evasion charges, after all. Not because tax evasion was his most serious crime, only because it was the best case. Conspiracy was a long shot here, and I think that over-reaching hurt the prosecution.
What I saw of the trial was scattershot at best. The prosecution looked to be moving in a million different directions, and thanks to their own witnesses surprising them on the stand they weren't moving in any of the directions very well.
Now, Jackson can go on being a danger to children. Any future prosecutions will be doubly hard to win. That's why I'm so frustrated.