Updated: 8:14 a.m. ET May 25, 2006

SIDNEY, Neb. - A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.

His crimes deserved a long sentence, District Judge Kristine Cecava said, but she worried that Richard W. Thompson, 50, would be especially imperiled by prison dangers.

"You are a sex offender, and you did it to a child," she said.

But, she said, "That doesn't make you a hunter. You do not fit in that category."

Thompson will be electronically monitored the first four months of his probation, and he was told to never be alone with someone under age 18 or date or live with a woman whose children were under 18. Cecava also ordered Thompson to get rid of his pornography.

He faces 30 days of jail each year of his probation unless he follows its conditions closely.

"I want control of you until I know you have integrated change into your life," the judge told Thompson. "I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced."

Huh????????????????????????

JonR

...our legal system...

How tall was the kid?

I'll bet she has no kids

They both need to go to prison.

I'm guessing there are other circumstances involved, or at least I hope there were.

It seems to me that sending someone to a prison where the judge "knows" the individual will be sodomized and abused amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. While some think it's good and fitting punishment for criminals, I'm do not . It, in my opinion, is more likely to brutalize and dehumanize the inmate who experiences it rather than causing him to feel remorse for his crimes and reform his behavior in the future.

If there were no other extenuating circumstances, perhaps this could be a wake-up call for a prison system that sometimes (to give it the benefit of the doubt) fails to do enough to prevent such abuses.

how about .05 worth of lead?

The rise in sex crimes is mind-boggling, and all these others are worried about is illegals here to pick our strawberries for us. What i am saying is that we are taking our eye of the ball while there is a storm brewing

BTW i know its not the issue here, but midget sex is also becoming an epidemic.

wjmiskelly, I see your point... but at the same time, if you break a law that everyone else gets prison time for... then you should probably be going to prison! I mean, what's next? They wouldn't think twice about sending a “weak” man to prison... or how about those who never learned to fight and defend themselves properly? They're at an increased level of danger too, aren't they? Maybe we should change that old saying to: “Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time... unless you’re a midget”.

If you commit a crime, you should pay for it… no matter how tall you are. I think that holds true, ESPECIALLY in sexual assault cases… and MOST of all in those cases involving assault on a child!

Sex offenders should be castrated and then they will have something to really remind them of their crimes....now all of you bleeding hearts can jump on that one.

Charlie

Charlie;

no bleeding heart here, but that Increases their drive.

I think the best punishment would be to take their protection away. Society can handle them.

Charlie, I actually agree with you. Across the board on violent crimes our legal system needs to be more harsh. The simple issue is that chances of "reform" in prison are slim to none. Accepting that this is the case, then there really is little reason to ever release a person from prison. Since it is very expensive to keep a person in prison for life, and since life in prison is not much of a life, we should simply execute them (quickly).

The only problem with this is the chance of errors in the judicial system (take for example the guy who was released after 12(I think) years in prison for rape, which DNA evidence finally proved he didn't do). So, there must be some sort of strike system. As far as I'm concerned, 1 violent crime may be a mistake or extenuating circumstances, 2 violent crimes and there is no reason whatsoever to keep you around.

time for redneck justice.

HANG UM !!

Judge with head inserted in rectum?

Well.....you know it's really hard to form an opinion on this case and this post with so little info given.

Just jumping the gun and saying to hang the guy, or blaming our legal system (this happened in Australia by the way) is not a very thoughtful way of doing things.

The article says "sexual assault against a child." What exactly does that mean? It's not molestation, rape, incest, I don't think, so what is it? I would think that it involves some sort of "assault" without actual sexual molestation or penetration.

Perhaps the guy grabbed some 17 year olds behind? Maybe he squeezed a boob? Who knows? All this article says is that he assaulted a child, and that means someone under the age of 18.

Somehow or another, the judge found him fit enough to walk that streets.

If someone could post more details on this story, I'd love to read them. If he's guilty of something wrong, then punish him. If not, then the court has spoken.

Just another sacrifice at the alter of liberalism.

What's a few raped kids compared to some liberal judges feeling good (maybe should be only 1 o) about themselves and their superior level of open-mindedness?

Now, had he cross checked some phone call logs to stop terrorists or something, then we should hang the fascist.

And I think it's Nebraska.

Adroomi, it’s interesting that with less knowledge you assume that anyone against illegal immigration is a racist.

Yet in the case of someone convicted in a court of law, you assume he was an 18 year old dating a 17.99 year old.

Why?