NO! NO! NO!!! ~ ~ Sooz

Missouri judge sentences man convicted of raping 11-year-old girl to three years probation
Scott Kaufman | 04 Dec 2014 at 11:01 ET

A judge in Kansas City, Missouri is being criticized for sentencing a 21-year-old man convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl in 2013 to three years probation and a suspended jail sentence, KSHB reports.

According to the victim’s foster father — who asked not to be identified to protect his daughters’ privacy — his daughter and her 17-year-old sister snuck out of their apartment last summer to meet two men, one of whom was Steven Bradford. The 11-year-old told Bradford that she was sixteen — which under Missouri law would still qualify as statutory rape.

When the 11-year-old told her foster father about that night, he immediately called police, who arrested Bradford.

Prosecutors allowed Bradford to plead no contest to the rape charge, in exchange for treating his sentence as if he had raped an adult instead of a child. They believed he would be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

Bradford’s defense argued that because the victim lied about her age — and because Bradford had no previous history of sexually based offenses — he should face significantly less jail time.

Both were surprised when Johnson County Judge James Franklin Davis handed down a suspended jail sentence — meaning that Bradford would spend no time in prison — and three years probation.

The victim’s foster father told KSHB that “I just thought that this was a total miscarriage of justice.”

Prosecutors agreed, immediately filing a motion to have what they believe is an “illegal sentence” under Missouri sentencing guidelines “corrected.”

Bradford was released from the residential center where he was being held while awaiting sentencing just after midnight Tuesday.

Watch a report from KSHB below. [Video accessible via the end link]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/missouri-judge-sentences-man-convicted-of-raping-11-year-old-girl-to-three-years-probation/

Is the victim black?

Foster father isn't but we don't know.

The 21 year old should spend some time in prison. Hopefully there is some avenue in the law to overturn this.

I don't care if the girl is polka-dotted, striped, or green ~ she's a CHILD!

Sooz

My point is that when a victim is black the setences against the criminals are less severe.

Statutory Rape.

Still, it does seem a bit light.

Life has its twists: I knew a couple who were happily married for years (as far as I know they're still married ) but how their relationship began was rocky indeed; he was 21 and she was 14. Daddy pressed charges and guy did 7 years in prison and yep, when he was released from prison they got married.