The Unbearable Lightness of Sentencing: Courts Move Toward Acceptance of Pedophilia

Robert J. Thaler

SAGINAW, MI — A longtime Saginaw Valley State University professor will serve five years probation for possessing child pornography.

Saginaw County Circuit Judge Robert L. Kaczmarek on Monday, Feb. 24, sentenced Robert J. Thaler for possessing child sexually abusive material and using a computer to commit a crime punishable by four to 10 years in prison.

Thaler, 72, pleaded guilty to those charges last month and, in exchange, prosecutors dropped an additional such charge each and recommended that Kaczmarek sentence Thaler to only probation.

Thaler's agreement also called for him to not apply for reinstatement to SVSU, where he worked from 1974 until April 2012, when school officials suspended him indefinitely without pay.

Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Boyd said his office entered into the agreement because of Thaler's age, his agreement to not apply for reinstatement and the fact that the convictions will place him on the state's sex offender registry. Boyd also noted Thaler's sentences would have run concurrently regardless of whether he pleaded to two or four charges.  (more...)

Longtime SVSU professor gets probation for possessing child pornography

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Robert H. Richards IV

A Superior Court judge who sentenced a wealthy du Pont heir to probation for raping his 3-year-old daughter noted in her order that he "will not fare well" in prison and needed treatment instead of time behind bars, court records show.

Judge Jan Jurden's sentencing order for Robert H. Richards IV suggested that she considered unique circumstances when deciding his punishment for fourth-degree rape. Her observation that prison life would adversely affect Richards was a rare and puzzling rationale, several criminal justice authorities in Delaware said. Some also said her view that treatment was a better idea than prison is a justification typically used when sentencing drug addicts, not child rapists.

Richards' 2009 rape case became public this month after attorneys for his ex-wife Tracy filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the abuse of his daughter.

The fact that Jurden expressed concern that prison wasn't right for Richards came as a surprise to defense lawyers and prosecutors who consider her a tough sentencing judge. Several noted that prison officials can put inmates in protective custody if they are worried about their safety, noting that child abusers are sometimes targeted by other inmates.  (more...)

Judge said du Pont heir 'will not fare well' in prison