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Lenght of prison sentences

Lenght of prison sentences

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Here in Denmark (where I live) we have just finished the country's worst case of sexual child abuse. A father of two girls aged 8 and 11 had their entire lifetime sexually molested them and the last two years also repeatedly raped the older sister. If that wasn't bad enough he also forced the older sister into prostitution over a period of about one year. During that time she was raped by at least 14 men.
The father was sentences to 10 years in jail, and will be eligible for probation in about 6-7 years. The 10 years is the longest sentence given to a child molester in Denmark in modern time. Personally I think the sentence is about right, perhaps a little too short, but what I was wondering about is, what do you think would be the sentence for a similar crime your country.

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here in Canada? i'm ashamed to say!

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Just out of curiosity, were there any witnesses, or were any of the 14 men mentioned identified in this case? Starting in the early '80s, America went through a shameful period of hunting child molesters in pre-schools that turned out to be a series of witch hunts by not-so- well meaning district attorneys and social workers, starting with the McMartin pre-school molestation trials. A lot of innocent people spent years in prison because young children were coerced and brain washed, one married couple spent 14 years in prison before their children were old enough to come forward and say they were influenced when 6, 7 years old to falsely accuse their parents, etc. by social workers .

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Originally posted by tiggr
here in Canada? i'm ashamed to say!
I have to agree, with recent changes in the UK, its likely they would get a low sentence...possiable 5 years or less after proal

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Originally posted by LennyBruce
Just out of curiosity, were there any witnesses, or were any of the 14 men mentioned identified in this case? Starting in the early '80s, America went through a shameful period of hunting child molesters in pre-schools that turned out to be a series of witch hunts by not-so- well meaning district attorneys and social workers, starting with the McMartin p ...[text shortened]... y were influenced when 6, 7 years old to falsely accuse their parents, etc. by social workers .
Yes there were witnesses, the police had also tapped the fathers telephone, as well as physical injuries on the girls.There was an overwhelming amount of evidence, the girls testemony wasn't even used in the trial

Sadly we have also had cases of false memories, that turned into witch hunts.

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In a case like this, in which the father didn't make just one stupid mistake but actually repeated the crime over and over, I think he should serve more than 10 years. I don't really have experience in law, but I would guess he'd get around 20+ years in the U.S., and that sounds more appropriate to me, if not a little lax. Also, did any of the other men get arrested and/or convicted and/or sentenced? Finally, this is purely an inquisitive question, not meant as an insult, but doesn't Denmark have a high prostitution rate?

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Originally posted by wittywonka
In a case like this, in which the father didn't make just one stupid mistake but actually repeated the crime over and over, I think he should serve more than 10 years. I don't really have experience in law, but I would guess he'd get around 20+ years in the U.S., and that sounds more appropriate to me, if not a little lax. Also, did any of the other men ...[text shortened]... isitive question, not meant as an insult, but doesn't Denmark have a high prostitution rate?
The other men were also convicted, all in all they shared 35 years in prison. With sentences ranging between 1.5 and 3.5 years.

I don't know what the prostitution rate in Denmark is, but I don't think is is very righ or low compared to our neighbouring countries. Well apart from Sweden where it is illegal to go to a prostitute.

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I have no idea what the penalty is in the states, and I suspect it varies from state to state, and of course from judge to judge.

I'd be surprised if it's not compartively lengthy. I keep hearing cases of 18 year old guys getting thrown in jail for statuatory rape (aka sex with a minor) of their 16 year old girlfriends. That doesn't quite seem right to me.

So, extreme sentences wouldn't be a big shocker.

Don't get me wrong, any dad who prostitutes his own daughter ought to be castrated and be put in the stocks in a busy town center with a sign on his neck that says "I raped my daughter".

But that's just me.

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Originally posted by nickybutt
Here in Denmark (where I live) we have just finished the country's worst case of sexual child abuse. A father of two girls aged 8 and 11 had their entire lifetime sexually molested them and the last two years also repeatedly raped the older sister. If that wasn't bad enough he also forced the older sister into prostitution over a period of about one year. ...[text shortened]... wondering about is, what do you think would be the sentence for a similar crime your country.
In The Netherlands the official maximum penalty for this is 12 years.
(He will be out in 8) However it is much more likely that he wil get about 6-8 years (he wil be out in 4-5).
Or even less if he had a poor childhood.

Far too soft in my opinion. A life sentence seems much more fit to me.

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Originally posted by nickybutt
Here in Denmark (where I live) we have just finished the country's worst case of sexual child abuse. A father of two girls aged 8 and 11 had their entire lifetime sexually molested them and the last two years also repeatedly raped the older sister. If that wasn't bad enough he also forced the older sister into prostitution over a period of about one year. ...[text shortened]... wondering about is, what do you think would be the sentence for a similar crime your country.
I thought that was encouraged in Denmark.
I thought the age of consent in Denmark was .. birth.
You mean they actually convicted someone? Hard to believe.
Those little girls were probably asking for it, tempting the poor old guy.
Maybe a 30 day program for self-control would be enough to "make him better."
I'm sure that when they turn him loose he'll be a perfect citizen and able to go back to his job teaching kindergarden.
Poor guy's just another victim of your religiously driven society.
Way to strict.

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Originally posted by nickybutt
Here in Denmark (where I live) we have just finished the country's worst case of sexual child abuse. A father of two girls aged 8 and 11 had their entire lifetime sexually molested them and the last two years also repeatedly raped the older sister. If that wasn't bad enough he also forced the older sister into prostitution over a period of about one year. ...[text shortened]... wondering about is, what do you think would be the sentence for a similar crime your country.
Depends on what state you live in, here in the US. In the New England area, it's like the child molester's paradise. Either Vermont or New Hempshire gives probation and maybe like 90 days, if that, in prison. Texas wants to make the second offense death. Personally, I agree with Texas except make it the first offense. There is no punishment on earth that can be administered for the taking of a child's innocence.

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Originally posted by slappy115
Depends on what state you live in, here in the US. In the New England area, it's like the child molester's paradise. Either Vermont or New Hempshire gives probation and maybe like 90 days, if that, in prison. Texas wants to make the second offense death. Personally, I agree with Texas except make it the first offense. There is no punishment on earth that can be administered for the taking of a child's innocence.
I understand your feelings of revulsion to the perpetrators, but if you make the death sentence mandatory there's the danger that they'll kill the victim to avoid detection. To avoid this you need to be able to hand down a sentence that will deter the offence you are trying to avoid without encouraging a worse one.

In the UK it is possible to receive a life sentence for rape, no matter who it is you've raped; the victim being a child would be a sufficiently aggrivating circumstance to make this sentence likely. I don't know what typical sentences are. If the child's not been raped, but interfered with to some lesser extent, then the sentence depends on exactly what the crime was. Reading the above facts I think he'd have got a pretty similar sentence here, maybe 15 years.

Whether parole (or in the case of a life sentence release on licence) is given is meant to depend on remorse and an assessment of the likelyhood of reoffence. With paedophiles it's difficult to see how they could fulfill the not reoffending requirement, or have their behaviour start to escalate on release. One option would be some form of tagging for life as part of the initial sentence. Not as an alternative to custody, but so that they could not commit a sexual offence without being linked to the crime scene after release from prison. It must be possible to make the tag tamperproof. The GPS information should be unusable for other purposes (like generating evidence for more trivial crimes like shoplifting), since the purpose is to protect children rather than to ensure that they are good citizens in other respects.

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Originally posted by DeepThought
I understand your feelings of revulsion to the perpetrators, but if you make the death sentence mandatory there's the danger that they'll kill the victim to avoid detection. To avoid this you need to be able to hand down a sentence that will deter the offence you are trying to avoid without encouraging a worse one.

In the UK it is possible to receive ...[text shortened]... to protect children rather than to ensure that they are good citizens in other respects.
You do make a great point and I know I am a little extreme with this view. Oh course, 15 years in prison might be far worse than death since inmates consider crimes against children horrible and they do exact their frustratations against them. In fact, it should be madatory that all the inmates know why that person is in prison. That might be the most fitting punishment.

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Originally posted by jammer
I thought that was encouraged in Denmark.
I thought the age of consent in Denmark was .. birth.
You mean they actually convicted someone? Hard to believe.
Those little girls were probably asking for it, tempting the poor old guy.
Maybe a 30 day program for self-control would be enough to "make him better."
I'm sure that when they turn him loose he'll be ...[text shortened]... garden.
Poor guy's just another victim of your religiously driven society.
Way to strict.
I guess you are either being sarcastic, being an idiot, or trolling. Please specify.

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Originally posted by jammer
I thought that was encouraged in Denmark.
I thought the age of consent in Denmark was .. birth.
You mean they actually convicted someone? Hard to believe.
Those little girls were probably asking for it, tempting the poor old guy.
Maybe a 30 day program for self-control would be enough to "make him better."
I'm sure that when they turn him loose he'll be ...[text shortened]... garden.
Poor guy's just another victim of your religiously driven society.
Way to strict.
Trolling is cool.
High five!

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