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The center of a controversial sex abuse case this spring has announced his retirement. Judge Edward Cashman says he will leave the bench next March after 25-years of service. Cashman was heavily criticized for the sentence he handed down in the case of convicted child molester Mark Hulett. He's also been praised as an unusually thoughtful judge who followed the law and never bowed to outside pressures. Cashman has presided over many serious criminal cases, but none more controversial than that of Mark Hulett, convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing an underage girl. Cashman's sentence was complex. The judge said at...

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...

I couldn't post directly due to a copyright issue, but you'll find the article at the Burlington Free Press website (burlingtonfreepress.com) Article number is 73231662682813 This is outrageous...outrageous...

Claiming he no longer believes in punishment, a Vermont judge issued a 60-day sentence to a man who confessed to repeatedly raping a girl over a four-year period, beginning when she was 7 years old. Judge Edward Cashman disagreed with prosecutors who thought Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston, Vt., deserved eight to 20 years in prison, reported WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vt. Cashman said he's more concerned now about rehabilitation. "The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul," Cashman told a packed Burlington courtroom made up mostly of people related...

BURLINGTON, January 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  According to a Vermont judge, serious crime should not be subject to punishment. “The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul.” So said Judge Edward Cashman who then gave a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl repeatedly for four years starting when the girl – the child of a friend - was six and ending when she was ten.Mark Hulett, 34, pleaded guilty in District Court in Burlington to two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one...