http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jul17/0,4670,JudgeapossSentenceHeight,00.html
July 17, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. — A judge had valid reasons for sentencing a 5-foot-1 sex offender to probation, even though she cited the offender's height as part of her rationale, the Nebraska Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
An examination by a clinical psychologist and the results of a test used to determine the risk that Richard W. Thompson would reoffend both indicated that Thompson, 52, is neither a pedophile nor a sexual predator, the court said.
District Judge Kristine Cecava of Cheyenne County sentenced Thompson last year to 10 years of probation for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
"So I'm sitting here thinking this guy has earned his way to prison, but then I look at you and I look at your physical size. I look at your basic ability to cope with people and, quite frankly, I shake to think what might happen to you in prison because I don't think you'll do well in prison," Cecava said in court, according to a court transcript of the hearing.
The sentence prompted local and national criticism, and Attorney General Jon Bruning appealed the sentence to the Nebraska Court of Appeals and sought a prison term for Thompson.
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