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.
Whenever I see an insane sentence like this, I wonder what kind of porno the judge has on his computer?
You just have to wonder is it just liberal activism or a fellow pervert protecting one of his own?
Wow, cool, you know about Art St. Clair! Unfortunately, that happened near my home; EC is 5 min from me.
The real interesting thing about that dude was that he was a SPORTS ANNOUNCER ON WCBM, OUR LOCAL CONSERVATIVE STATION.
I remember being shocked when I heard his name - then disgusted by the other radio hosts on CBM equivocating w/their "we're not going to say anything cuz he's innocent until proven guilty" claptrap.
It's been a year and I've been wondering what's going on. Thanks for informing me (incidentally) of what ever happened to Art. Apparently, not enough. (Although, was it full-blown rape or "just" solicitation/attempted rape? I know he met her at St John's plaza, but did he actually get to the rape point?)
This goes way beyond liberal activism. The judge needs to be removed and investigated.
According to The Washington Times (Nov. 16, '05, a tiny column), Art Sinclair pleaded guilty to "engaging in a sexual act with a 16-year-old girl in an Ellicott City parking lot" and to "unnatural and perverted sexual practices."
Furthermore, the Judge Louis Becker declared that Sinclair does not have to register as a sex offender.
I just found that info in a little blurb on line. I guess "sexual act" could include actual rape, but it might just as well be a Lewinsky. I don't know if they'd delineate that.
I guess Sinclair is also too famous to be registered.
Really, just once I'd like to hear the otherwise-moral hosts at CBM come out and talk about this - and admit he's a scum. 1 gets the feeling of "hypocrite" when they circle the wagons around 1 of their own.
The police needs to notify the family of the exact date and time and location of his release, so they can take it from there--preferably with a sharp pair of scissors.
I will be very surprised if he doesn't already have this outrage ready for tonight, at the very least.
Funny, tax courts never seem to get that kind of judge.
Time for a recall.. and failing that... well as Jefferson once said:
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Yes, Hulett should receive "sex offender treatment". So long as it is something so horrific it would make Saddam avert his gaze in disgust....
YES. IMO, this judge is a close pedo. When judges hand down sentences like this, I believe it is because THEY are hiding their own personal agenda for molesting children.
There just isn't any other way to explain something like this.
Birds of a feather
While the judge required Sinclair to undergo "sexual offender treatment or counseling," he would not require him to register as a sex offender.
The soccer team fired him.
This can't be for real. This has to be a hoax.
Because so many sex offenders themselves have been molested, they carry the same damage that their victims do....
OK, what I'm saying is that there are big chunks of emotion, trust, safety, boundaries, stop signs etc that are taken away or distorted when a child is molested.
That is why rehab is so often difficult. You can't create something with the clay is absent.
although I agree completely with what you said, this guy isn't a psychopath. He's fully aware of what he did and why it's wrong, he just doesn't care. That would make him a sociopath, or at least antisocial.
I'd prefer a loaded .44, but that's just me.
Edward J. Cashman of Essex, Chittenden County. Appointed District Judge by Richard Snelling (RINO - my words) in January of 1982. He has served as a trial judge in ten of Vermont’s fourteen counties over the years. He is a graduate of Boston College (1965) and the Washington College of Law (1968). He served with the U.S. Army including a tour of duty in Vietnam (1969-1971). He married Gail Sylvester formerly of Saint Albans in 1966. She worked as an emergency room nurse at Fanny Allen Hospital for 25 years They have three children: Jeffrey, a pilot with Vermont National Guard, Michael, a law student and faculty member at the University of South Carolina, and Brooke, a graduate student at The American University in Washington, D.C. Judge Cashman has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Vermont (1971-72); Chittenden County Clerk (1973-75), Commissioner of Public Service (1975-1978), Grand Isle County State’s Attorney (1978-1982). He has also held local government positions with the Village and Town of Essex as Planning Commission member and Town Agent. He maintained a private practice of law for ten years. Judge Cashman taught courses at the University of Vermont and Johnson State College in Environmental Law and the Law of Zoning and Planning. He presently teaches a course at Johnson State College in Constitutional Law. He has taught at the National Judicial College on the topic of Restorative Justice and Community Based Court Systems. He has held positions with the Vermont Dismas House Board of Directors, the Saint Lawrence Parish Council and the Knights of Columbus. He is a past president of the Vermont Trial Judges Association and the Chittenden County Bar Association. He is a member of the Franklin County, Chittenden County and Vermont Bar Associations. He serves on the Civil Rules Advisory Committee. E-mail is Ejc29@aol.com or cashman@chitdis.crt.state.vt.us.
Source: http://vermont-elections.org/elections1/2003JudicialBios.pdf
Either way, keep him the heck away from the rest of us.
With any luck, the hero who blows away the child rapist piece-of-human-exrement will get the same (or similarly) lenient judge.
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