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9 months for killing molestation suspect
AP via Yahoo! ^ | 1/5/7

Posted on 01/05/2007 10:34:24 AM PST by SmithL

WILMINGTON, Del. - A man was sentenced to nine months in prison Friday for beating to death a 77-year-old man he believed had molested his 5-year-old daughter.

Robert Fontanez Jr. pleaded guilty last year to killing Bismark Vasquez. Police have said that although there was no physical evidence to support his daughter's allegations that Vasquez had fondled her, the account she gave police was consistent with what she had told her family.

In April, an infuriated Fontanez punched Vasquez so hard that Vasquez went through the back door of his home. Fontanez punched him several more times as he lay bleeding on the concrete outside, police said.

Fontanez, 27, of Elsmere, had been charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide.

Superior Judge Joseph Slights III sentenced Fontanez to far less than the maximum five years, telling him, "The circumstances surrounding this crime were taken into consideration by the state" and the court.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: childmolester; fontanez; instantjustice; vasquez
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1 posted on 01/05/2007 10:34:25 AM PST by SmithL
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To: SmithL

Don't know how I feel about this one. I'm glad they took the circumstances into account.


2 posted on 01/05/2007 10:36:13 AM PST by The Old Hoosier (Right makes might)
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To: SmithL

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Nine months is not too much to pay.


3 posted on 01/05/2007 10:36:40 AM PST by bondjamesbond (Many Americans are invested in a US failure in Iraq, and will work diligently to bring it about.)
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To: SmithL

Hmm. I have mixed feelings here. I have no problem with beating someone who molests your child, and if the perp croaks, tough nuts. But, is that the case here?


4 posted on 01/05/2007 10:36:43 AM PST by jim35 ("...when the lion and the lamb lie down together, ...we'd better damn sure be the lion")
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To: SmithL

Seems fair. We can't issue free passes to anyone who "thinks" he is administering justice, but a highly reduced sentence for someone "protecting" children like this seems reasonable...


5 posted on 01/05/2007 10:40:53 AM PST by Onelifetogive (I don't have to show you no stinkin' tagline!)
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To: SmithL
As other have said, I have a problem with this case although mine is a bit different.

The suspect who was killed had not been convicted of a crime. There have been plenty of cases were a person has been accused of rape/molestation only to find out later the charges were bogus because the accuser(s) had made it up.

Now, I have a feeling the suspect was guilty in this case but I still don't believe in vigilantism.

6 posted on 01/05/2007 10:42:06 AM PST by COEXERJ145 (Bush Derangement Syndrome Has Reached Pandemic Levels on Free Republic.)
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To: bondjamesbond

Mitigating circumstances aside, a person is dead. This man committed premeditated murder and got only 9 months. Where's the justice in that?


7 posted on 01/05/2007 10:42:08 AM PST by LibreOuMort (Give me liberty, or give me death! (Patrick Henry))
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To: SmithL
Problem is, there are false reports of child molestation.

Ever since some wicked person figured out that you could use child molestation as a club in divorce cases, the number of allegations has skyrocketed.

And false reports beget more false reports. Once the barrier to perjury is broken, it happens more often.

Add to that the overemphasis on sex education and "good touch, bad touch" classes in the schools . . . and I could see a kid with an overactive imagination getting "bad touch" out of a hug or accidental contact.

I'd want more than a little kid's say-so before I started beating on the accused.

8 posted on 01/05/2007 10:43:35 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: SmithL

Yes I know how this nation feels about children("its for the children"), but this is ridiculous. Anyone can do anything now without having to prove anything. Since when did this stop being the land of law ? This is nothing short of second degree murder, or first if it can be proved, and should be treated as such.


10 posted on 01/05/2007 10:45:13 AM PST by HarmlessLovableFuzzball
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To: bondjamesbond
Nine months is not too much to pay.

For beating an innocent man to death.

11 posted on 01/05/2007 10:45:30 AM PST by PAR35
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To: LibreOuMort

I was not saying that the man did not get a heavy enough sentence. I was, rather, saying that he did not get too heavy a sentence.


12 posted on 01/05/2007 10:45:32 AM PST by bondjamesbond (Many Americans are invested in a US failure in Iraq, and will work diligently to bring it about.)
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To: Onelifetogive

For the kid's sake, I hope her story is true. Can you imagine how she would feel if it were a fake story? What a thing to bear for the rest of her life.

But, Al Sharpton would say something like, "Even if it wasn't true, it COULD have been the right guy."


13 posted on 01/05/2007 10:45:38 AM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: bondjamesbond

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Nine months is not too much to pay.
__________________________________________________________
Right. Just remember to take comfort in that thought if you are ever falsely accused and you are on the receiving end of "justice."

I believe in capital punishment for genuine molesters. Sometimes kids will say what they think you want to hear. Remember the McMasters day care case?


14 posted on 01/05/2007 10:49:23 AM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: AnAmericanMother
The 5 year olds story was consistent to her father and the local police, and seeing as she was only 5, I would be thinking that she was being truthful concerning such a subject.

It may have been better for the father to wait until a confession was extracted from the perp, or an authority based confirmation of the childs accusation, before killing him, but a fathers rage under such circumstances is quite understandable, IMO.
15 posted on 01/05/2007 10:49:28 AM PST by Pox (If it's a Coward you are searching for, you need look no further than the Democrats.)
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To: PAR35
Nine months is not too much to pay.

For beating an innocent man to death.

You seem certain he was innocent. I'm not so sure either way. Either way taking the law into your own hands and killing someone is not the way to go. But I can understand the fury of the father in this case.

16 posted on 01/05/2007 10:51:10 AM PST by frogjerk (REUTERS: We give smoke and mirrors a bad name)
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To: frogjerk

If there had been ANY admissible evidence of guilt, I'd be sympathetic. In this case, it appears that there was none.

The 'heat of passion' defense should be good to get past a first degree murder charge, but the guy deserves serious time.


17 posted on 01/05/2007 10:53:53 AM PST by PAR35
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To: frogjerk

30 years ago, I took a friend to the police station to sign papers to get his stolen car thet the police had recovered. While standing there, a detective thought I looked like a perp who had strongarmed a paperboy. Next thing I know, I was picked out of a lineup. Fotuneately, I had a rock solid alibi.

I'm sure glad the kid's dad didn't kill me before I was cleared.


18 posted on 01/05/2007 10:56:30 AM PST by umgud (The profound is only so to those that it is.)
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To: bondjamesbond

There is a little known law here in Texas,,,

"Some folks just need kill'n"

Its actually a fairly successful defense in Tx courts.


19 posted on 01/05/2007 10:56:47 AM PST by mlbford2 (If you are going to make a hole, make it a big one.)
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To: bondjamesbond
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Nine months is not too much to pay.

This guy beat up and killed an innocent man. Nine months is not a sufficient punishment. If we were given a pass to kill people we thought deserved it, law would break down in this country. How do we even know that the alleged molestation was the real reason for the attack?
20 posted on 01/05/2007 10:56:47 AM PST by Stone Mountain
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