Posted on 01/05/2006 7:49:15 AM PST by DaoPian
Burlington, Vermont -- January 4, 2005
There was outrage Wednesday when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl many,many times over a four-year span starting when she was seven.
The judge said he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation.
Prosecutors argued that confessed child-rapist Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston deserved at least eight years behind bars for repeatedly raping a littler girl countless times starting when she was seven.
But Judge Edward Cashman disagreed explaining that he no longer believes that punishment works.
"The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul," said Judge Edward Cashman speaking to a packed Burlington courtroom. Most of the on-lookers were related to a young girl who was repeatedly raped by Mark Hulett who was in court to be sentenced.
The sex abuse started when the girl was seven and ended when she was ten. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of eight to twenty years in prison, in part, as punishment.
"Punishment is a valid purpose," Chittenden Deputy Prosecutor Nicole Andreson argued to Judge Edward Cashman.
"The state recognizes that the court may not agree or subscribe to that method of sentencing but the state does. The state thinks that it is a very important factor for the court to consider," Andreson added.
But Judge Cashman explained that he is more concerned that Hulett receive sex offender treatment as rehabilitation. But under Department of Corrections classification, Hulett is considered a low-risk for re-offense so he does not qualify for in-prison treatment.So the judge sentenced him to just 60 days in prison and then Hulett must complete sex treatment when he gets out or face a possible life sentence.
Judge Cashman also also revealed that he once handed down stiff sentences when he first got on the bench 25 years ago, but he no longer believes in punishment.
"I discovered it accomplishes nothing of value;it doesn't make anything better;it costs us a lot of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger,"Cashman explained to the people in the court.
The sentence outraged the victim's family who asked not to be identified.
"I don't like it," the victim's mother,in tears, told Channel 3. "He should pay for what he did to my baby and stop it here. She's not even home with me and he can be home for all this time, and do what he did in my house," she added.
Hulett -- who had been out on bail-- was taken away to start his sentence immediately.
He will do exactly that...and then leave the state to rape little girls in Massauchussets or elsewhere. And then the Judge himself should be given life in prison.
Get two, one for hizzoner and one for the perp! Same tree, side by side would send a clear message to perps and judges!
How did the rapist have access to the child? Relative? Neighbor?
Reminds me of a case a few years back where, in a neighboring county the judge who happened to be a friend of a convicted rapist's father could find no real reason to keep the rapist locked up but felt he would be better off back in the village where he had terrorized a number of women. Some civic minded citizen, in order to ease the rapist's ordeal of getting back into society, sent photos of the judge's wife and daughter as well as directions and a map of the judge's house. These were found in the perp's jail cell.
Suddenly the judge had a major change of heart! Ten years later the rapist is still behind bars. Funny how the world works.......ain't it?
If the perp lives through the 60 day sentence, I don't think he'll last too long once he's released.
"...The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul," said Judge Edward Cashman ..."
As Rush says, you can't make this stuff up. How sad.
Does one suppose the judge might feel differently if it had been his own 7 year old daughter who was the victim?
Any parent that does not move from Vermont immediately needs their head examined! More proof liberals do not care about children, although that's what we keep hearing is the reason to take our money.
I'm so sickened I want to throw up. I believe this judge is a closet pedo and is protecting someone he is sympathetic with. Bet $100 on it.
I wonder what the judge would think if a repeat offender hurt one of his loved ones.
If people still don't get justice, they might take justice in their own hands.
The judge does not understand this predator is soulless
Careful the last person we need as a martyr is the likes of this judge.
" I am a villian: yet I lie, I am not"
This case exemplifies why I support the direct election of judges -- because the voters can un-elect those judges who put their feelings above the law and the protection of victims.
Later unspeakable pingout.
Judges Gone Wild. Take that freaking judge out with the hook.
"It would be appropriate if someone raped the judge for several years to see if his view on punishment came around again."
He would probably go lighter on the sentence...work release...in the judge's private chamber.
The one thing I agree with the judge about is that punishment does not solve the problem when this guy could get out after his sentence, therefor sex offenders especially when children are involved should never get out.
Exactly. If a baseball player is no longer willing to swing the bat than he would be fired. If a soldier is no longer willing to pull the trigger, then he will be demoted.
Sorry - no - it's not. It's a power thing - and as long as the criminal has a way of exerting power over a victim, then he can commit the crime. The only 100% proven, zero recidivism method is to execute the SOB.
Well, lets hope he gets what is coming to him in general population in the next 60 days. I don't understand this "judge's" reasoning. Will he try to "rehabilitate" murderers too? He is probably a closet pedophile.
"Does one suppose the judge might feel differently if it had been his own 7 year old daughter who was the victim?"
Frankly, I am afraid the answer to this question might well be "no". After all, hizzonor is patently stupid and self-centered. Because, really, what he has said is that his feelings on punishment trump all else - the law, common sense, his professional responsibility, society's needs, the ends of justice, etc. Ego-centric idiot. Only thing you can do with this kind of stupidity is try to remove it from the gene pool.
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