He is convicted of attempting to molest a 13 year old girl, there is evidence that it was not the only time, he was a cop, the DA and the Department of Probation asked the judge for four years in state prison, and he only gets one year in jail plus probation.

What’s wrong with this picture?
The judge is up for reelection in two years.

Over the last several years, there have been changes to the laws in California which generally result in fairly long prison terms with no probation for sexual predators. In some of these cases, the judges do not even have the choice to give a defendant probation. The long sentences, however, are generally based on a list of very specific actions taken by the defendants. The more bad things the defendants do to their victims, the more charges, the longer the sentences and the less opportunity for a judge to give probation.
Since these cases often involve the rape and/or murder of some innocent, often very young, victim, police departments and other organizations have taken to using sting operations to get the bad guys before they actually hurt somebody. In these stings, the police use the internet and other modern forms of communication to set up a meeting with the defendant and a decoy. The defendant thinks he is going to have sex with a 13 year old girl, but instead gets arrested for attempted child molestation.

The good news is that no child actually gets hurt. But, the bad news is that the sentences are very light because the bad guy didn’t actually go through with hurting somebody.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman of the Orange County District Attorney’s office Sexual Assault Unit is the prosecutor for this case. He told www.OC180NEWS.com “On most of these child molests, the defendant isn’t eligible for probation–either the law says he’s not eligible or because we file an allegation that says the judge can’t give him probation. In most of these child molest cases, we’re taking discretion away from the judge and the judge has to sentence him to state prison. This is one of those cases where the judge has the discretion to give him probation. There are different laws that say if you commit these types of offenses, you can’t get probation. That law doesn’t apply to attempted child molest.”

READ MORE:

http://www.oc180news.com/article/West_Orange_County_Features/Crime/CHP_Officer_Gets_Probation_for_Child_Molestation_Conviction/18732