- Sep 26, 2000
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http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8860~3216676,00.html
Judge Edward Cashman got what he wanted -- a child molester will receive treatment in prison. But he never could have expected the price he'd have to pay for it.
Cashman resentenced Mark Hulett on Thursday to at least three years in prison -- up from the 60-day term that had outraged Gov. James Douglas, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and a host of other politicians and commentators who called the judge soft on child predators and demanded his resignation.
Amid the uproar over the initial sentence, the state changed the rules that kept offenders like Hulett from receiving treatment behind bars. Doing so earlier might have saved the judge from invective stretching from the Legislature to the blogosphere.
"Had the Department of Corrections offered a treatment option during the three-year period of imprisonment it sought at the first sentencing hearing, the court would have accepted that recommendation," Cashman said Thursday.
Hulett, 34, had pleaded guilty to charges that he had sexual contact with a girl during a four-year period beginning when she was 6. Under state policy at the time, he was not eligible for sex-offender treatment in prison because the Corrections Department concluded that he was not likely to reoffend.
At his original sentencing, Cashman said the best way to ensure public safety was to get Hulett out of prison so he could receive sex offender treatment. A lengthy prison term without treatment could turn him into a more dangerous offender, he said.
On Thursday the judge made it clear he believed punishment was a "valuable and necessary component of society's response to criminal conduct."
In the aftermath of Cashman's initial ruling, Human Services Secretary Michael Smith ordered the Corrections Department to change its policy to allow low-risk sex offenders to receive treatment in prison.
So the judge gave the guy the Department of Corrections recommended sentence after all. I still want to know how the Dept of Corrections came up with only a three year recommendation.
The judge got the state to give "low risk" offenders treatment. I wonder how this guy is "low risk".
But this judge did a service to the children of Vermont. We should do everything possible to prevent molestation. While the three year sentence is far to lenient the fact that this one judge got treatment for low risk offenders makes our kids safer.
Now we need to look into why this guy is "low risk" and why the D.O.C only recommended 3 years. Seems there is a problem there. FYI In other news stories it explained the guy was allowed to cop a plea because the evidence was weak and the kid traumatized. Letting him plea was the only way to assure a conviction.
Judge Edward Cashman got what he wanted -- a child molester will receive treatment in prison. But he never could have expected the price he'd have to pay for it.
Cashman resentenced Mark Hulett on Thursday to at least three years in prison -- up from the 60-day term that had outraged Gov. James Douglas, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and a host of other politicians and commentators who called the judge soft on child predators and demanded his resignation.
Amid the uproar over the initial sentence, the state changed the rules that kept offenders like Hulett from receiving treatment behind bars. Doing so earlier might have saved the judge from invective stretching from the Legislature to the blogosphere.
"Had the Department of Corrections offered a treatment option during the three-year period of imprisonment it sought at the first sentencing hearing, the court would have accepted that recommendation," Cashman said Thursday.
Hulett, 34, had pleaded guilty to charges that he had sexual contact with a girl during a four-year period beginning when she was 6. Under state policy at the time, he was not eligible for sex-offender treatment in prison because the Corrections Department concluded that he was not likely to reoffend.
At his original sentencing, Cashman said the best way to ensure public safety was to get Hulett out of prison so he could receive sex offender treatment. A lengthy prison term without treatment could turn him into a more dangerous offender, he said.
On Thursday the judge made it clear he believed punishment was a "valuable and necessary component of society's response to criminal conduct."
In the aftermath of Cashman's initial ruling, Human Services Secretary Michael Smith ordered the Corrections Department to change its policy to allow low-risk sex offenders to receive treatment in prison.
So the judge gave the guy the Department of Corrections recommended sentence after all. I still want to know how the Dept of Corrections came up with only a three year recommendation.
The judge got the state to give "low risk" offenders treatment. I wonder how this guy is "low risk".
But this judge did a service to the children of Vermont. We should do everything possible to prevent molestation. While the three year sentence is far to lenient the fact that this one judge got treatment for low risk offenders makes our kids safer.
Now we need to look into why this guy is "low risk" and why the D.O.C only recommended 3 years. Seems there is a problem there. FYI In other news stories it explained the guy was allowed to cop a plea because the evidence was weak and the kid traumatized. Letting him plea was the only way to assure a conviction.
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