Posted on 03/18/2006 6:36:58 AM PST by Diago
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Sex offender sentencing puts judge on hot seatO'Reilly show targets Columbus case
Friday, March 17, 2006
T.C. Brown Plain Dealer BureauColumbus - Franklin County Judge John Connor is the Columbus Shamrock Club's Irishman of the Year, but his name is mud in much of the rest of the town, if not the country. Connor sits at the center of a national fire storm over his lenient sen tence for a child sex offender, with conserva tive cable TV host Bill O'Reilly fanning the flames of outrage. Adding fuel to the fire is Connor's history of drunken-driving convictions. State Republican politicians are falling all over themselves to call for the removal of Connor, a Democratic Common Pleas judge. In an odd twist, the sex offender, Andrew Selva, contributed thousands to some of those same politicians' political campaigns, and those of Democrats, according to state records. Selva, 46, was initially indicted on 20 counts of rape for sexually assaulting two boys for more than three years. A different judge dismissed that indictment in 2004 because of errors. Prosecutors, instead of seeking a new indictment, opted for a plea agreement. Selva, of nearby Hilliard, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery, which can carry a sentence of up to five years, although jail time is not mandatory. Connor sentenced Selva to five years' probation in December, including one year of house arrest with electronic monitoring, and a continuation of sexual offender counseling. When Selva's neighbors found him in the neighborhood recently, they contacted the Justice League of Ohio, a victims' rights group, and the controversy mushroomed. Connor, 65, whose term expires in 2010, said Thursday he will not step down nor will he miss Columbus' St. Patrick's Day parade. "I'm marching with a bunch of good Irishmen," Connor said. "I'll be protected." Psychologists testified that Selva was making progress in counseling and that it was not likely he would reoffend. Furthermore, if Selva went to prison, he would not receive treatment. He is being treated in Cincinnati now, Connor said. "I think I did protect the public and I did fulfill my duties in that respect," Connor said. "People screaming for jail are misguided. I guess it's revenge." When prosecutors reached a plea deal, they did not recommend a sentence, said Ron Welch, a former assistant Franklin County prosecutor. But court transcripts show that prosecutors did ask for prison time during Selva's sentencing. Pressure continues to mount for Connor's removal. Since Wednesday, Gov. Bob Taft's office received nearly 300 calls and 6,000 e-mails about Connor, likely due to a link on O'Reilly's Web site, said Taft spokesman Mark Rickel. Taft urged lawmakers to start impeachment proceedings, a process that the House of Representatives will examine, said Speaker Jon Husted. Connor said it is unbelievable that the legislature would try to remove him for a ruling. "Every judge in the state should be worried and scared if they are able to do that," Connor said. That view found some support from Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Moyer, a Republican. "We need to be very cautious before embarking on a course of action that may have the unintended consequence of causing judges to fear retribution from the legislative and executive branches whenever they are dissatisfied with the outcome of a particular case," Moyer said in a statement. "This type of atmosphere could seriously damage the impartiality of the courts." Lawmakers are quickly drafting bills calling for a mandatory prison sentence for those convicted of the sexual battery of anyone 13 or younger. Though he has no authority to act, Attorney General Jim Petro, who is running for governor, appeared on O'Reilly's show Wednesday and spoke to a local group of protesters Thursday. GOP candidates for attorney general, Auditor Betty Montgomery and State Sen. Tim Grendell of Chester Township, also weighed in. Records show that Selva gave $1,000 to Taft in 1997. In 2001 and 2002, Selva gave $2,250 to Petro, who has given the money to charity. Selva gave $1,725 to Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who is also running for governor. Selva gave $1,825 to Montgomery in 1994 and $8,500 in the late 1990s to Lee Fisher, the former attorney general and current running mate of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland. Connor was publicly reprimanded in 1984 when he was a lawyer after a drunken-driving arrest and a cocaine possession charge. Connor was also arrested and convicted of drunken driving in 1999 and again in 2002, for which the Ohio Supreme Court put aside a suspension of his law license. Records show three other drunken driving arrests before he became a judge, but those charges were reduced or dismissed. Connor said he has been sober since 2002. Connor, honored at the Irishman of the Year party last week, told attendees that he would not drink because he was allergic to alcohol, said Pat Byrne, former president of the Shamrock Club. "Whenever I drink, I break out in handcuffs," Byrne quoted Connor as saying. Plain Dealer news researcher Cheryl Diamond contributed to this report. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tcbrown@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272
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And looks like one too ... doesn't he?
Ever check out your local Meagan's Law web site?
Because then no one regardless of their contrition, repentance, and resolve to live within the law would ever be released.
Exposing the judge and parole boards to that much liability would hopelessly color their judgment.
I say hopelessly because not of us would have the slightest hope should we be accused of any crime, and none of us are immune from an accusation.
That being said, I think there desperately needs to be a way to introduce some real penalty for judges and parole boards who are way out of line.
While the cased was bungled early on, this states that even with the plea deal the judge could have, and in just about everyone's opinion, should have, sentenced Sleva to five years jail time.
Selva, of nearby Hilliard, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery, which can carry a sentence of up to five years, although jail time is not mandatory.
The judge brought this on himself with his poor judgment, remove him from office.
Thanks for your link. I have been following this and had not seen that piece.
While I can see the point the Judge makes, I don't believe it should get him off the hook. He rules supreme in the courtroom, it is his job to know the background of a case especially when dealing with child molesters.
The Judge and the prosecutor had to know one another and I feel that the two of them trying to pass the buck on the other is disingenuous.
The prosecutor should be investigated over his possible misconduct at the very least. The Judge should be off the bench.
Bundy never shook the hand of the president or his wife.
We, in Florida, made sure of it.
Is it true that Selva actually paid to have these boys brought into the country? In essence, they were imported sex toys?
I understand Jefferson advocated castration for rapists.
OK, let's look at this. Started treatment last December and it is now middle of March. How many times does he have to go for treatment? Because of the holidays in Dec. and Jan. and if he went once a week, he would have nine treatments total more than likely one hour at a time, so that would be nine hrs. so far and the psychologists say that Selva is making progress. That I can not believe!
Connor said it is unbelievable that the legislature would try to remove him for a ruling. With this kind of ruling, why would it be unbelievable, you didn't do your job.
"Every judge in the state should be worried and scared if they are able to do that," Connor said. That's right judge, there has to be a balance of justice somewhere. Do you think that you can make just any kind of ruling and nothing can be done about it. No judge, there has to be something done to judges like yourself who can not or will not meat out justice for a crime that comes before them. You just can not sit upon a bench and draw a lot of money, make a few decisions to please yourself and expect nothing to happen to you. You sir, have an obligation to the victims and the community to do your duty and you did not do it and from what I can tell, you haven't done it since you have been a judge.
"This type of atmosphere could seriously damage the impartiality of the courts."
Heven forbid that the court just couldn't let this person go free. I mean where is the impartiality of that/ sar.
Another John Gacy in waiting. He was a big time Democrat too.
Which is as it should be.
Judges need to learn that they are not autonomous.
Auto = self
nomous = law
autonomous = law unto themselves, able to dictate what is and what isn't law.
I agree! Just in the last few days we had the perverted kook in SC who had the 2 girls in his dungeon! WHy? The guy didn't qualify for the state's offender program???
G A R B A G E!!
When will the madness end?
Sure, he will re-offend. As a former Dept of Corrections employee, child molesters see themselves as normal.
They don't really understand why they are incarcerated. Their desires for children are just as normal to them as normal people's desires for their spouse.
Only way to stop a child molester from re-offending....a .45 caliber lobotomy.
I've read that somewhere, but I don't remember where now. He offered to pay for their educations as part of his plea, but the boys said no way. They didn't want to feel like they were being paid off.
There's still more to this than the judge is saying. The reason the guy got a plea was because the victims didn't want it to go to trial...not because it wasn't true...but because the older one was afraid his (now) high school classmates would find out his identity. I can only imagine his fear at his peers discovering he had taken it in the rear end, even if it had been forced. No one would look at you the same way.
The family also didn't want the younger one to have to go through a trial. He was 5 when it started.
If the judge admits that he knew there had originally been 20 counts, and that's it's been plead down to 2 of a lesser charge, you can bet he is aware of the ages of the children involved. This scumbag Selva should have been imprisoned for at least part of the 5 years, if not the whole time. Hell, the kids had to be tormented and assaulted by him for 3 years. He deserves to be in prison for at LEAST that long!
I personally feel that Connor is a disgrace to the judicial system and to society. I can't believe his past convictions were set aside so that he could remain on the bench. This is sham justice. I want him to be removed now, and I want all judges to know that we are not going to keep bending over and taking it up the rear anymore.
FWIW, the local paper has also mentioned that Connor issued probation twice as often as the average here for plea deals. Plea deals are common, but a judge doesn't have to accept them. Even if he did, he was certainly within the law to order prison time for this offense. Connor injected his own personal bias into this case when he said that he had a problem that he was trying to manage, and that Selva has a problem that he should try to manage.
Please read my 56 for more info. I'm sorry that I don't have links to the reports I read, but I'm sure they can be found online somewhere.
ping to another "incompetent judge" thread
Thanks for posting this. I am so upset that Connor was even allowed to be on the bench in the first place. I voted for his opponent, because I had already heard of Connor's many DUI arrests. He always wanted to be treated like he was above the law for those offenses. He got his way, and his poor judgment is now costing us more.
I totally agree with your post.
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