British Judge Lets Off Rapist Of A 10-Year Old Girl, Because "She Didn't Look 10"

[DeSwiss]

Judge lets off rapist of girl, 10

The Sun
June 25, 2007

http://images.thesun.co.uk/picture/0,,2007290243,00.jpg
'Pathetic' ... Judge Hall

A JUDGE spared a man who raped a girl of ten in a park — because she wore a “provocative” frilly bra and thong. Window cleaner Keith Fenn, 25 — who could have got life in jail — will be free in just FOUR MONTHS after admitting twice having sex with the child. Judge Julian Hall decided to be lenient because the girl “didn’t look 10”. He caused fury earlier this year by freeing another paedophile, telling him to buy his six-year-old victim a new bicycle.

The judge referred to the 10-year-old as a “young woman”, and called her “very disturbed, very needy and sexually precocious”. He told Oxford Crown Court: “She liked to dress provocatively. She was 10. She’d been in care since she was four. “Did she look 10? Certainly not. She looked 16.”

Fenn, of Oxford, got two years’ jail but will soon be free because of time spent awaiting sentence. Accomplice Darren Wright, 34, of Henley-on-Thames walked free after getting just nine months. Last night, campaigner Dr Michele Elliott of children’s charity Kidscape called the sentences “beyond pathetic”. The NSPCC added: “There’s no excuse.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007290126,00.html

*** - On a day when I'm appalled and sickened by the stupidity of five of America's Supreme Numbskulls, I must admit that the stupidity of this asshole does bring a little bit of relief to me. Relief, in the sense that I now know that were not alone in having to live with asinine old farts who have obviously outlived their usefulness.

We can impeach ours, but apparently impeachment as a tool of justice and democracy isn't an option we use anymore. But over there, I think its the Queen who has to give em' the old heave-ho. So what's it gonna be Lizzie?

[Lithos]

1. Inconceivable

There are no words adequate to express my anger.

L-

[mzmolly]

2. O.M.G.

:puke:

[Warpy]

3. That senile old fool won't last much longer, methinks

If he isn't ousted, he'll meet with an unfortunate accident that only happens in the UK.

I watch "Prime Suspect." They can be damned creative over there.

[rwenos]

4. Old Darling

Probably ought to be put out to pasture, eh? The world has passed the old darling by.

[dsc]

5. One would hope he can be removed somehow

if not maybe he can have all sexual abuse cases reassigned since he apparently is unwilling to hear them in a rational way.

[DeSwiss]

21. A small note from Her Majesty....

...quietly thanking him for his service is all that is required. An article on his his retirement would've already been written for the next day's papers....


"...dang, some grownups just SUCK!!!"

[Prophet 451]

23. He can and will be

The Lord Chancellor excercises that power on behalf of Her Majesty. What will happen is that the Lord Chancellor will quietly request that the Queen "relieve him of his heavy burden", the Queen (actually, the Privy Council on her behalf) will send him a small note to that effect and he'll quietly retire.

[ljm2002]

6. Elitist bastard...

..."The judge referred to the 10-year-old as a “young woman”, and called her “very disturbed, very needy and sexually precocious”.

He told Oxford Crown Court: “She liked to dress provocatively. She was 10. She’d been in care since she was four.

“Did she look 10? Certainly not. She looked 16.”

So she is disturbed, needy and sexually precocious -- telltale signs, in many cases, of abuse issues at home. Add this to the fact that she had "been in care since she was four", and I'd guess she was already a victim before these two louts raped her. And the way the judge uses the fact that she has been in care so long, as though that somehow makes it okay. My interpretation is that he is a classist elitist bastard and doesn't think it's much of a big deal that some 10-year-old orphan (read: low class person) gets raped.

Not to diminish the sexism inherent in his decision, as well.

It is so damaging to have the keepers of the law and order, give decisions like this that absolutely undermine any notion of justice or fair play. Really, I'm beginning to think that the very notion of being a nation of laws (whether in the US or the UK) is going by the wayside -- that the notion simply is not relevant to an increasingly large number of people. Ant that thought is truly scary.

[Prophet 451]

24. One senile judge doesn't make the whole system invalid n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

7. WTF?

:puke:

[ComerPerro]

8. So its ok to rape someone over 18?

[Recursion]

10. Over 15, apparently

Though I think 16 is the age of consent in the UK

[ComerPerro]

11. yeah, true.

[Recursion]

9. "Certainly not. She looked 16"

Just when I thought the judge's decision could get no worse, he managed to surprise me....

[WildEyedLiberal]

12. Yeah, now it's all okay... I mean if she looked 16... I guess it's okay to rape 16 year olds

If this man got the shit beaten out of him I would not shed a single tear.

[Recursion]

17. Who was the "it takes two to tango" judge here in DC?

This sounds strangely similar to a case in DC. A judge let a 25-year-old man off very easy after having sex with a 10-year-old girl because she had misrepresented her age and looked older than 10, saying "it takes two to tango".

I mean, I suppose if there was deliberate misrepresentation on the girl's part there might be some leniency for the guy (and hopefully counseling for the girl) but I think you'd have to be a little "too eager to believe" to inflate anyone's age by 8 years, and I have trouble believing it would be possible to mistake a 10-year-old's room for an 18-year-old's (this happened at her house while her parents were gone, IIRC).

I guess it was the tango comment that set so many of us off. I mean, I suppose I can construct a hypothetical scenario in which a 25-year-old man mistakenly has sex with a girl that young in the honest belief she is 18, but the comment just throws the judge's credibility out the window...

[Quantess]

15. I thought his judgment could get no worse....

...until I saw his wig.

[Prophet 451]

25. Not his fault

The wig and gown are compulsary for judges here.

[Recursion]

27. So they'll remember not to take themselves too seriously?

(Yes, I know, it's actually for the exact opposite reason)

[Prophet 451]

29. Well, you know one reason

The other was to provide judges with a little anonymity. This is dating back to the years when being a judge was dangerous. The logic was that the defendant would see the wig and gown and not look much beyond that.

Barristers have to wear them as well... *sigh*

[Recursion]

31. Ah, I thought you were going to say

"You know one reason. Nudge nudge. Wink wink. Say no more."

[DeSwiss]

32. We've got a winner!!!

:D

[Selatius]

13. Do they have impeachment mechanisms for members of the judiciary in the UK?

This guy is obviously the minority opinion in the courts there. I doubt most other judges would come to the same conclusions or hand out such light sentences.

[Prophet 451]

26. No, but...

We don't have impeachment as such but we do have mechanisms for removing a judge who's so clearly gone off his rocker. Just takes a little while because our legal system's so formalised.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

14. Another graduate of Regent U.?

My gawd this is disgusting... it is taunting the "lesser" classes to become violent.

[DFW]

16. Appalling

I'd almost wish for this "judge" to be imprisoned and raped
himself if I didn't fear that he would immensely enjoy it.

[barb162]

18. EW. How is this guy still a judge?

[NightHawk63]

19. Simply incredible

Just when I was starting to think I couldn't be outraged anymore, something like this comes along to let me know that I don't know nearly as much of my fellow man as I thought I did. I can't even pretend to understand the mind of this "judge".

[rasputin1952]

20. I was speechless when I saw this...but I have to say, this man

ia an incredible asshole.

I think that wig is just a tad too tight, and while the British can be known for understatement...this "judge" needs to be dragged out of the courtroom and tarred and feathered. This is one of the most reprehensible things I've seen in a long time!...:grr:

Not just that, but how, after telling a guy to buy a 6 yo a bike after raping her, in another case, can this asshole possibly be considered sane?...

I feel for you my Brit brothers and sisters, I thought we had all of the nutjob judges...

[Prophet 451]

22. Two things

1. I'm not familiar with the case but be careful of the source. In terms of credibility, The Sun is somewhere between Faux "news" and the National Enquirer.

2. It's not Her Majesty who has to boot him off. She delegates that power to The Lord Chancellor who has the power to nominate or remove judges (subject to approval). Granted, he'll be kicked off the bench but the formalism of the legal system here means it'll take a little while.

[DeSwiss]

28. Here are other links to the story....

...with articles on this case. And the other case earlier this year when he told the rapist at sentencing to pay his victim £250 so she could buy herself a bicycle....

"The judge told Cole to pay the girl £250 compensation, saying: “If it buys her a nice new bicycle, that’s the sort of thing that might cheer her up.” He added: “In criminal terms, what you did was quite mild but the effects were serious.”

Metro UK:
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=54415&in_page_id=34

Times Online:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1319119.ece

[Prophet 451]

30. OK, he's ga-ga

Go with option 2 then: Quietly removed in the very near future.

[Recursion]

33. "I am pretty sure the chavs in Barton..."

The thing is, thanks to the OM, his face is now public and I am pretty sure the chavs in Barton will be paying him a few visits.

How lucky you brits are, having the chavs on hand to dish out their own brand of justice...



Man, I f***ing hate chavs....

[lpbk2713]

34. And I thought we had the market cornered on screwball judges.

Fooled me.

[DeSwiss]

35. Yeah, but we make it up....

...in volume. ;)

[ContraBass Black]

36. Was he tried for forcible rape, or statutory rape?

[DeSwiss]

37. Well it was most certainly....

...stautory rape since under British law a 13-year old cannot give consent to have sex. As to the issue of force, from the description of her I'd say she's probably a victim of sex abuse herself before all this happened. But the judge basically makes it sound like she just went to the park looking to have sex because she's promiscuous.

"Did she look ten? Certainly not," he added. "The victim, who had been in care since the age of four, regularly wore make-up, strappy tops and jeans," Oxford Crown Court heard. Judge Hall said: "Here is a very young woman who is taken to the park. Within three-quarters of an hour of meeting a 24-year-old man, they have sex."

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. The defence certainly claimed it wasn't forced

Lawyers for the defendants stressed that the sex had been consensual, and was only termed 'rape' because of the framework of law.

They said the judge stated that doctors who examined the girl believed she was in her mid-teens and she was treated by most people as older than her actual age.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6237480.stm

In English law, sex with anyone under 13 is rape, by definition, since they cannot give consent in law. Sex with anyone under 16 is still illegal, but if they're 13 or older, they are held able to consent.

[Recursion]

40. I'm now stuck wondering what the man's liability should be

And yeah, I know the Sun is pretty much the British version of the New York Post or Washington Times, but if the doctors who examined her thought she was past the age of consent, I could see some mitigation in the man's sentence.

[LeftishBrit]

42. I just don't see how someone of 10 could be mistaken for a 16-year-old

13 perhaps (which could reduce the sentence to some extent), if she looked and dressed mature - but I've never seen a 10-year-old who could be mistaken for 16.

[Recursion]

44. Apparently neither had the doctors until this case

Puberty is starting earlier nowadays... damn hormone-laced milk.

[Recursion]

39. Sex with someone under 13 (in the UK) is legally presumed nonconsensual

Or you might say "aconsensual" since the law posits that no-one under 13 is sufficiently mature to understand the decision and so cannot consent. Using "force" in the casual sense of the term (eg, pointing a gun at her) generally greatly aggravates the same offense, to the extent that in many US jurisdictions that crime would become capital.

[LeftishBrit]

41. While in general, if the 'Sun' said something happened, it probably means it didn't....

in this case, the report seems fairly accurate (reports from the BBC, and the local news in the area, support the story).

There will be an appeal from the prosecution against the leniency of the sentence.

It is truly frightening!!! And when you think of people who are locked up for years for quite trivial offenses!!!

[WinkyDink]

43. Sounds like a closet pedophile himself.