I was reading my paper this weekend and saw an article about a man who sexually assaulted a 12 year old girl. He was 20 at the time of the assault and the judge who sentenced him after he plead guilty gave him only 10 days probation. 10 DAYS!!!! I had to read it twice to make sure I read it right. I was shocked. I think that judge should be held personally responsible when/if it happens again because that guy should be behind bars. I would place bets that it will happen again too. I swear the justice system just make me sick. I found the article and posted it below....
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By Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writer SANFORD -- The mother of a sexually abused 12-year-old girl said Thursday that she is outraged that a judge sentenced the defendant to just 10 days of sex-offender probation.
Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr. made the ruling Monday in the case of Mark Vansandt, 22, of Longwood.
At the same hearing, Eaton sentenced Vansandt to four years of conventional probation on an unrelated cocaine charge.
Vansandt was charged with having sex with the girl at his home in August 2002 and pleaded guilty in October.
Under state sentencing guidelines, he faced a combined prison sentence of eight to 20 years in the sex and cocaine cases. However, state law allows judges to sharply reduce the penalty they give young offenders, and that's what Eaton did.
Vansandt was 20 at the time of the abuse.
Eaton's 10-day sentence was far below the norm.
Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said Thursday that he'd never heard of a defendant being placed on sex-offender probation for just 10 days.
A defendant placed on sex-offender probation has fewer freedoms than someone on conventional probation. He gets more visits from his probation officer, he must get counseling, he must keep a log of wherever he drives and he cannot leave home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
In addition, he cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school or park. Vansandt does, said Assistant State Attorney Donna Scott. He lives with his mother and did not want to move, she said.
Eaton said his sentence was perfectly valid. Vansandt lived "940-something" feet from a school, but Scott, the prosecutor, refused to allow him to stay in the house with his parents, Eaton said.
Vansandt "is not a pedophile. He's not a rapist. He's not a violent sex offender," Eaton said.
He was an extremely immature man who had sex with a 12-year-old, the judge said.
The victim's mother called the sentence "a joke."
"I believe he should spend some time in prison," she said. The Orlando Sentinel is not identifying the mother to protect the identity of her child, now an eighth-grader.
"I'm really shocked that the judge is sending out this message to other young men that it's OK to have sex with a 12-year-old, and he'll give you a little slap on the wrist."
Vansandt could not be reached for comment.
State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said the Florida Legislature did not create a more stringent set of probation rules for sex offenders only to see judges place defendants on it for less than two weeks.
Vansandt's attorney, F. Wesley "Buck" Blankner Jr., said the judge was trying to follow the law and still be fair to Vansandt, whom he described as "a decent guy."
Despite the short sentence, Vansandt will be permanently identified as a sex offender on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Web site, Blankner said
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