Judge in child rape case no longer believes in punishment

Can you believe this guy?

There was outrage Wednesday when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl many,many times over a four-year span starting when she was seven.

The judge said he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation.

Prosecutors argued that confessed child-rapist Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston deserved at least eight years behind bars for repeatedly raping a littler girl countless times starting when she was seven.

But Judge Edward Cashman disagreed explaining that he no longer believes that punishment works.

“The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn’t solve anything. It just corrodes your soul,” said Judge Edward Cashman speaking to a packed Burlington courtroom. Most of the on-lookers were related to a young girl who was repeatedly raped by Mark Hulett who was in court to be sentenced.

The sex abuse started when the girl was seven and ended when she was ten. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of eight to twenty years in prison, in part, as punishment.

[…]

Judge Cashman also also revealed that he once handed down stiff sentences when he first got on the bench 25 years ago, but he no longer believes in punishment.

“I discovered it accomplishes nothing of value; it doesn’t make anything better; it costs us a lot of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger,” Cashman explained to the people in the court.

Just how many times was this little girl raped at the hands of this sexual predator? From a story back in August of last year (emphasis added):

Hulett, 34, pled guilty to sexually assaulting a friend’s young daughter at least fifty times over a two year period, starting when the little girl was only seven.

What’s also scary to note is that the judge in this case, Judge Edward J. Cashman, was invited to teach a Friday class at Vermont Judicial College in 2003 – on “Prisoner Issues.”

A 60-day sentence for a confessed child-rapist … because the judge on the case no longer believes in punishment. Amazing.

17 Responses to "Judge in child rape case no longer believes in punishment"

Baklava says:

January 5, 2006 at 9:16 am

Sounds like Steve’s arguments. Peace! (no recognition of evil)
PCD says:

January 5, 2006 at 9:29 am

Legislatures are too reluctant to Impeach and remove bad judges. This is one judge gone round the bend. Congress should Impeach most of the 9th Circuit and stop dancing around the problem with their wacko activism.
benning says:

January 5, 2006 at 9:50 am

The Judge ought to be impeached for nonfeasance at the least. But nothing will happen. After all, he’s a caring man, he feels the criminal’s pain. And it is Vermont, right? The Utopia of New England?
ArizonaTeach says:

January 5, 2006 at 11:37 am

Sweet Zombie Jesus…I usually don’t wish bad on people, because it’s a pointless exercise in petulance, but damn, I hope this judge gets raped fifty times by somebody over the next four years.
4thelittleguy.com » Blog Archive » Runaway Judiciary says:

January 5, 2006 at 1:58 pm

[…] Hat tip: Sister Toldjah […]
4thelittleguy says:

January 5, 2006 at 2:00 pm

This judge is out of his mind. What he calls “anger” will solve something: if this criminal is behind bars then he won’t have access to seven year old girls. Besides, being raped repeatedly over a period of three years does a lot more than just corrode your soul.
Kevin says:

January 5, 2006 at 2:25 pm

I wonder if a policeman would get to keep his job if he “no longer believes that punishment works.” The idea that taking a pedophile’s ability to prey on children for 25 years or so “doesn’t work” is mind-boggling.

It turns out that physical or chemical castration DOES work. If he was only concerned with results, why didn’t he go in that direction instead?
Jessica says:

January 5, 2006 at 2:50 pm

Goodness, Gracious! But hey you know what they say “What goes around, comes around.” If the criminal doesn’t get raped then the judge will.
paulsen says:

January 5, 2006 at 4:47 pm

The Judge must be being blackmailed, that’s the only thing I can say for a foolish sentence like that. As far as the rapest goes, we won’t say. We will say this. “Karma is a bitch.”
Steve Skubinna says:

January 5, 2006 at 7:17 pm

I wonder how this judge can draw a paycheck for work he apparently feels is no longer worth believing in. He’s like a Pope who renounces Christ but still wants to ride around in the Popemobile and wear the cool pointy Pope hat and wave at people from the neat Pope balcony in those bitchin’ Pope robes, even if this Christ stuff was just so much bullshit, man.

And while such a Pope would certainly find himself idly musing away retirement in some nice Tuscan villa, this judge will probably stay on the bench until he quits.
Lorica says:

January 5, 2006 at 8:31 pm

If logic like this continues you will start seeing Father’s take justice in their own hands. Who would blame a man who’s daughter went thru this and then hears about how the perp gets 60 days. Is that double time for good behavior??? As far as I am concerned this judge is in sympathy with the crime and should also be charged, as an accessory before the fact, if this man rapes another child. It is time to hold our judges accountable for stupidity. I am not one to condone senseless violence, but there is a little girl who has been terribly hurt, and this judge is charged to look after her well being, not the criminals. More leftist idiot-ology that needs to be corrected. – Lorica
Dana says:

January 6, 2006 at 1:31 pm

One suspects that Mr Hulett will receive some of the justice he deserves inside prison, where child molesters are very much at the bottom of the pecking order. And one also suspects that, with a courtroom packed with the victim’s relatives, Judge Cashman might receive some of the justice he deserves.
Mike Hunt says:

January 10, 2006 at 10:10 pm

I got busted for pot in Indiana as a teen and got 30 days jail plus 360 hours of community service. Compared to a repeat sex offender, I got a cruel & unusual punishment. With my jail time & community service combined, I think my sentence was worse than his (the freak). What’s up with that? Smoking weed is worse than raping kids in Vermont? This judge thinks his job is to act like a conveyor belt and pound a gavel. This clown needs a new line of work, he can’t be trusted to do his job. It’s not about how many cases you process, it’s about the will of the people. We don’t want Chester the Molestor out running around loose. The judge doesn’t seem to fully grasp his job description….
Chip says:

January 16, 2006 at 6:12 am

It’s quite simple: We should ALL boycott Vermont until they remove this idiot from the bench…
JoeJoe says:

January 16, 2006 at 2:19 pm

I have a fun feeling, that just like most of the stories that go around, what you is not really way happened. Sure there was a trial and all but. The media loves to latch on to these stories and exploit them to the hilt. For instance part of this story is that the guy(rapist) is severly retarded, he doesn’t even know he did anything wrong, hey I ain’t saying let the guy go, what I am saying is that the media won’t report stuff like this because, it kinda ruins the story. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if the offense wasn’t actual rap, but some other form of sexual abuse, but the media says ‘rap’ to give the story legs.
Bill O’Reily I noticed, contrary to what he says about ‘No Spin’ is full of it, If was a joke to listen to his commentary about the big oil gas prices that time, he doesn’t have clue what he talking about or he is ‘spinning the shit’ out of it to keep the story alive.
Enough said, there’s an old saying ….”Don’t beleive anything you hear and half of what you see”…..ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS COMING FROM THE MEDIA………..
Samuel says:

January 19, 2006 at 10:22 pm

“Vengeance is mine!”, sayeth the Lord.
Laura Isham says:

January 23, 2006 at 6:41 pm

Yeah, like boycotting VT will help. I know that Cashman is a jerk. I’ve met him. He likes to hear himself talk. It sounds like he made a decision I would disagree with, although I haven’t heard enough about the case (at least, not from RELIABLE sources) to say for sure.

Do you think that it’s the job of VT corporations to impeach judges? What do you suggest, that we hire hit men to assassinate them? Should I boycott your state because a judge makes a decision I disagree with? Notice that O’Reilly had to retract his call for boycott because VT Teddy Bear gives him advertising money for his website. Also notice that O’Reilly’s coverage was filled with the negative reactions of locals. Note that locals would be VERMONTERS.

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