WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS KIDDING?

I think the judge could quite reasonably argue that male and female sex offenders should be treated differently but to deny that he is doing so is a laugh. If you want to see what a laugh it is, just ask yourself what he would have done if the victim were a young girl! A similar sentence in that case would have produced a huge outcry

A judge said yesterday he was not showing sexual bias in suspending a jail term for a woman who molested a schoolboy. Judge Geoff Chettle said he let the mother of 10 go because her crime happened 14 years ago and she was older and wiser now. That she was a woman and her victim a boy had nothing to do with his decision, the judge said. "Lest anyone be of the view that you have been treated in a more lenient fashion because you are female and because I suffer some unconscious sexual bias, I can say that I would impose an identical sentence if the genders of your victim and you were reversed and a similar delay of 14 years occurred," he told her.

Cheryl Whittle, 44, of Werribee, pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a 14-year-old boy in 1992. She demanded child support payments after giving birth to his child. Judge Chettle suspended a 15-month jail sentence for three years. The County Court judge said the inordinate and exceptional delay in the case coming to court had saved Whittle from going to jail. The boy, now 27, had not reported the assault until December 2004, saying he was too embarrassed to come forward earlier.

People Against Lenient Sentencing spokesman Steve Medcraft said soft sentences discouraged victims from ever coming forward, and delays should not favour offenders. "It's making a mockery of the justice system. We can't put time limits on justice," he said.

The boy had been an overnight guest when Whittle crept into the bedroom where he was sleeping and had sex with him. A year later he quit school after constant taunts from classmates. He began a carpentry apprenticeship but was soon harassed for child support.

Describing Whittle's crime as out of character, Judge Chettle said it could be considered a "foolish lapse", not repeated. Unlike teacher Karen Ellis, jailed for six sex crimes against a 15-year-old student, she abused her victim just once, he said.

In a statement to the court, the victim said the assault had had a lasting and unsettling effect, and "I felt disgusted and betrayed at the time of the sexual assault, and shocked, stressed and horrified at the prospect of becoming a father".

Judge Chettle acknowledged that the victim had suffered long-term psychological damage, telling Whittle: "You stole his innocence."

In August last year the victim took custody of his son, now 12; Whittle's lawyer told the court she intended to launch court action to get him back. Whittle, who has had 10 children to four fathers, lives in a housing commission flat with four children under 16. She has multiple convictions for theft, and was jailed at 18 for robbing a milk bar. The judge said Whittle had led a chaotic life and was a battler who'd tried to rehabilitate herself.

Report here



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