A plea deal that sent an ex-convict accused of raping a 4-year-old girl to jail for only a year has prompted outrage across Oklahoma, where lawmakers are calling for the removal of the judge who approved the deal and the attorney general is investigating a new set of abuse allegations.Under the deal, David Harold Earls, 64, of the southeastern Oklahoma town of McAlester, pleaded no contest last month to first-degree rape and forcible sodomy. Normally, the rape charge carries a sentence of between five years to life in prison, but the deal he struck with prosecutors called for 19 years of his 20-year sentence to be suspended.
While many involved are saying this happened because the outcome of the case rested on the testimony of the now 5-year-old girl, whom made "contradictory statements" in pretrial hearings, Earls admitted to the crime and medical evidence showed she was sexually assaulted. Can someone in law please explain how and why this sentence was reduced so significantly, because I just can't fathom it.
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This CNN video gave me a different insight into this case.
Thank you, Femgineer, for the link. It definitely shed light on how this sentence came to pass, and helped me get past the gut reaction from reading the headline. Unfortunately, most people will not be moved by the maneuvering that went on behind the scenes to secure any kind of conviction at all. I understand their outrage, to be sure, as I felt the same way until I learned more. But there will continue to be a willful blindness to the facts behind this until someone (the judge, the prosecutor, etc) is made into a scapegoat.
Posting from court so I can't read the full story. Susp sentence usually means probation. So he was given a 20-year sentence, probated for 20, with one year in prison as a condition of his probation. I assume his age was a factor. Makes me glad I live in a state where we don't offer probation to child rapists.
This is what happens in this system; everyone did their job and followed the law and a rapist gets put right back on the street, mainly because a toddler couldn't relive her rape out loud to a room filled with her rapist and strangers. The system is severely broken.
How could the system be fixed?
I don't know that it would have helped in this case, but there are some new initiatives here in Canada taking place to help child witnesses in court. Court preparation with a trained volunteer to show them what court will look like, what everyone's role in court is, etc. (Note, the volunteer knows NO case details- the first thing you tell the child is that they cannot talk to you about what happened to them, that they must talk to the prosecutor about their case- and follows a standard procedure for the training, lest they be accused of leading the witness). Courtrooms where child witnesses can wait in a special room instead of in the hallway with the accused. Where they testify behind a screen and a camera broadcasts their image to the courtroom so they only see the judge, not the accused. Having children come to a special centre with highly trained interviewers for an interview, which is taped so the child does not have to tell different people over and over and over what happened. Special child abuse centres that coordinate these services. Giving child abuse cases with child witnesses priority to get them through the court system faster (still very slow, but it's getting faster).
In this case I suspect the prosecutor took the 1 year in prison as there was a very high chance of continuing to traumatize the child with a court case with little chance of prosecution.
Those poor kids. Their poor mother. It's heartbreaking.
That poor mother is a prime example of what can happen when a woman is so desperate for male attention that she lets any old thing into her home with her children. She hadn’t even known this man for very long and here she was having him live in her home with her children. At best she is a stupid, spineless idiot and very irresponsible. I especially feel this way since there is already some speculation that she has gotten involved with another man. I’m sure I’ll get bashed for ‘blaming the victim’ because I dared find this mother culpable in any way after what she has been through, but tough. The fact that she is sad about what happened doesn’t change the fact that she was incredibly negligent with ridiculously poor judgment and her child has paid the ultimate price for it.
Nobody in jail or prison like chomos (child molesters)... everyone hates them, period. Oohhh, they'll make sure that justice is done, if you know what I mean.
Violence by people acting as vigilantes is not justice, if you know what I mean. Unless you're going to try to claim that lynch mobs were just making sure that justice was done.
Prison rape is not ok, and its not a punchline either. I'm against ALL rape, period. I think hinting that well; this rapist will be raped and that's good, wink wink is pretty gross.
I don't get why prison rape is still seen as funny. Even IF you hold the position that some people "deserve" to be raped (wtf??), don't you realize that if people in prison are raped, it also means that PEOPLE IN PRISON ARE RAPING? Are you really saying that you're glad that in many prisons, prisoners--including ones who have committed the crime of rape--are able to rape others?
I think people make pro-prison rape revenge statements because too often they feel (and rightfully so) that the system does not provide adequate justice for victims of violent crimes, especially sex offenders that target women and children. Seriously, people often do more time for simple drug possession than they do for committing the atrocity of rape and sometimes even murder. I think that people wish prison rape on these offenders precisely because they do know how degrading and terrorizing rape is and they want these offenders to experience what they have inflicted on their victims since the system does such a woeful job or providing real justice to victims and their families. I don’t know that people wish this on non-violent offenders they way they do on sadistic inmates. Perhaps you feel compassion for any inmate who is raped but for me and many others it really depends on what they are incarcerated for.
It is frustrating.
For many years my wife and I were volunteers
in a non-profit agency that worked
with victims of child sexual abuse and
their families.
Sentences like this happen because
when you come down to it, child rape
is something that a lot of people
don't see as serious. Or worse, they
see it as a case of a man just "losing
control". It's not seen as something that merits life in jail, no matter what happens to the victim.
Sad but true.
Really? I've never seen that attitude anywhere, and seen more of the reverse (ie someone expressing sheer fury over it) than anything else.
Citizen Lane: I can't help but feel that his age (if that really was a reason for them choosing the suspended sentence) is just a cop-out. I don't see that age should have anything to do with what time you spend in prison.
Neither do I, but having been present at the prosecutions of aged offenders, and worked on the habeas petitions of others, it's a common argument. "Judge, I'm old, and I'm not going to make it in prison."
Most of the time, the complaints fall on deaf ears (I have some cites to Texas cases regarding our Code of Crim. Pro. Art. 11.25), but sometimes they don't.
Looking at the case, I think Oklahoma needs to drastically update their child witness laws. The problem is that the U.S. Sup. Ct. is rather strict about Confrontation Clause issues, and to a certain extent, they're right to be. It's an absolute, Constitutional right to be able to cross-examine your accuser. Now, I know that I can usually get an adult to be led around by the nose, sometimes even a well-educated adult, on cross examination. That's just the nature of human psychology and leading questions. That's why in Texas, we have procedures for taking child testimony out of court and admitting the video, done in a neutral location by a trained child psychologist. The attorneys typically submit questions to be asked, but I don't necessarily "blame" the prosecutors here (and that's not just professional courtesy!) for not going forward with a case where they didn't believe they had the best evidence. There are ethics rules which require us to not prosecute when we feel like we can't meet our elements.
Beyond the child victim's ability to properly remember the events, sometimes kids that young aren't "qualified" to testify because they can't tell the difference between a truth and a lie, and I'm not privy to all the information in this case about exactly what went on. I can say that in most cases, prosecutors want to be able to put on this kind of testimony, but they don't necessarily want to force kids to relive these experiences before they're old enough to be able to deal with them, as well as anyone ever deals with terrible tragedies like this.
I do think, however, this highlights the fundamental lack of Oklahoma's preparedness for child cases. They do need to address this problem and adopt a model like Texas.
In my experience, this is sadly true.
At my high school, they had some sort of pageant for men: Mr (name of) High School. He was elected to be the most charming, educated, suave, etc, by students and faculty, although it was widely known that he had been convicted of publicly raping/molesting his best friends 5, 6 year old sister in a neighborhood swimming pool.
It's a shock but... nobody cared.
I've told men that I thought were my friends about being raped, abused as a child and they said... big deal.
It's a shock. I don't know what to say.
You cant be serious....child molestation is almost invariably considered the most horrific crime that can be committed.
Consider the popularity of Sex Offender registries, and not-so-uncommon vigilante harassment they receive. Also consider the amount of attention the crime gets from the media (Micheal Jackson, To Catch A Predator, etc.)
The sentiment expressed by BROWN TRASH PUNK is what you would most likely receive from the average person.
I think more parents need to allow their children to testify.* This is why so many of these perpetrators get light sentences. They secure deals which rests on the victims testimony. We either need to have a change the terms of these deals, or help the children muster up the strenght to testify. Why do you think so many of those female teachers got off? It was one part sexism, one part shitty deal.
*I know it varies from state to state but I believe the minimum age to testify is 5-years-old. So this girl may not have been able to take the stand anyway.
Although (assuming this actually happened) the punishment definitely does not fit the crime, after watching that video, I can respect the actions of the prosecutors, the judge, and the child advocates.
What bothers me is the fact that her testimonial was broadcast on live television. Isn't testifying in front of a room of scary strangers about one's rape traumatizing enough for a kid? Is it really necessary to televise this? Aren't there laws in place that prevent this?
Bill O'Reilly's been covering this story every night for a week now. He's been putting the heat on the governor and attorney general of Oklahoma pressuring them to enact laws so this will not happen again.
I know, I know, let the flame-war ensue.
The CNN video does nothing to convince me that the justice system hasn't let down this poor child. Frankly I'm shocked that so many people here are letting this go. It's de rigueur for attorneys who come on these shows to act as "apologists-in-the-extreme" when defending the actions/inactions of their fellow attorneys and judges.
I love this part:
CNN host: Don't you think this warrants another look?
Lawyer: No! No! No! That presupposes that they made some quick decision...
To me that says it all. It's as if they're saying, "Yes the justice system is broken and who are we to fix it?"
Bitch, pleeze.
Ok, I am going to just be simple. I think that any child molester ever should just be in jail for life. No questions asked. I totally understand the pain the comes along with most people that do molest a child (they were most likely sexually abused as a child), and I feel bad that they have such horrible impulses. But if you actually decide to ACT on this impulse it should mean you are not allowed another chance ever. I am sorry, its one thing to have an impulse, its another to ACT on it. Whether they would do it again or not does not matter to me. It is SO absolutely insane when you look at prison time someone can get for having fucking weed, and then some guy can rape a 4 year old and get a year??? It makes no sense at al!
Very likely the guy admitted nothing of importance until the deal was made. So, the prosecution was likely faced with a choice of losing the case and letting him go free on the one hand or making some deal that gave the guy some jail time and making sure he was a registered sex offender under supervised probation for the rest of his life on the other.
Be honest. If you were faced with that choice what would you choose? Don't say that you would lock him up and throw away the key---that's not an option.
Exactly. In an ideal world, we'd always have enough evidence to convict those who commit crimes. But in the real world there are cases where there is simply not enough evidence to convict terrible people. The prosecution had to weigh the odds. Going to trial would likely lead to this man walking free and while the plea deal is painfully insufficient punishment, it at least guarantees his status as a sex-offender.
But it's easier to just get pissed and scream that our country doesn't care if you rape children.
i know that when i was 5 and 6, a "family friend", "my Uncle John" molested me +
when i finally told someone about, at first no one believed. then, dr appt, i have no hyman.
everyone freaks out.
(let me tell you, it wasn't what John did that fucked me up. it was everyone else. blaming me for not telling them despite my saying they wouldn't believe, and hey i was proven right wasn't i? my parents divorced right after this, and i thought they divorced BECAUSE of this until i was at least 25. i thought my stepdad beating me and raping me were because i deserved it for this.. etc etc)
So, the Air Force doesn't want a big scandle. so they offer dear uncle john a deal - if he will copy to "breaking and entering and major theft", they will try and punish him for those (made up 100%) and never bring up the real charges.
he snapped it up.
otherwise, i am sure someone would have killed him in that prison...
on the one hand, i can appreciate what was done. i was weirdly precocious, and when i spoke i sounded 10 or so - but its a big risk to pin something on a six year old as your primary witness. i'm prtty sure if my hyman hadn't been intact, nothing would have been done at all.
and i guess yen years for B&E and robbery is better than 1 asa childmolestor, at least to those war
i know that when i was 5 and 6, a "family friend", "my Uncle John" molested me +
when i finally told someone about, at first no one believed. then, dr appt, i have no hyman.
everyone freaks out.
(let me tell you, it wasn't what John did that fucked me up. it was everyone else. blaming me for not telling them despite my saying they wouldn't believe, and hey i was proven right wasn't i? my parents divorced right after this, and i thought they divorced BECAUSE of this until i was at least 25. i thought my stepdad beating me and raping me were because i deserved it for this.. etc etc)
So, the Air Force doesn't want a big scandle. so they offer dear uncle john a deal - if he will copy to "breaking and entering and major theft", they will try and punish him for those (made up 100%) and never bring up the real charges.
he snapped it up.
otherwise, i am sure someone would have killed him in that prison...
on the one hand, i can appreciate what was done. i was weirdly precocious, and when i spoke i sounded 10 or so - but its a big risk to pin something on a six year old as your primary witness. i'm prtty sure if my hyman hadn't been intact, nothing would have been done at all.
and i guess ten years for B&E and robbery is better than 1 a sa childmolestor, at least to those who were worried he;s get off intirely...
and this is why i hate posting here,
i make a post, i preview the post, i post the post - no post. i refresh the page - no post. i leave the page and come back - no post. i open a new browser window - no post
i repost the post.
now there are two.
sorry for the doubling
Oklahoma is a messed up place. They hate gays (See Sally Kerns)and they seemingly hate their children too.
I'm late to comment so I don't know if anyone will read this. While this case is extremely sad and my heart goes out to the little girl, it's wrong to portray this as simply a case of "the legal system doesn't give a shit about child rapists". Not even close. The prosecution had a weak case and had it gone to trial they very likely would have lost. Then this man would be back on the streets immediately with NO stipulations about the terms of his release. The prosecution knew they had a weak case which is why the prison term in the plea deal is so short. But at least now the man will have to register as a sex offender and face the restrictions associated with that. Additionally, the system can keep tabs on his current location.
Is it justice? Hell no, even a life sentence wouldn't be justice for what he did to that little girl. But until the day a fool-proof lie detector test or mind-reading device exists, guilty people are going to walk free due to insufficient evidence. The only alternative is to have more and more innocent people convicted of crimes they didn't commit. In this case the prosecution weighed the options and determined that it was better to secure sex-offender status than likely see him walk free after a trial.