For those upset that Brock Turner — the former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting a woman — was released from prison Friday after only three months, there is another too-lenient sentence to be outraged about.
Cassandra Licona of Lubbock, Texas, pleaded guilty to injuring a child under six years old, after originally being charged with sexually assaulting the child (that charge was dismissed). Her punishment? Seven years … probation. No jail, nothing. Just probation.
That child will be in middle school when her slap-on-the-wrist sentence ends. Her lessened sentence most likely resulted from a plea agreement, which invites the question: How could any prosecutor agree to allow someone who sexually assaults a child to stay out of jail?
There’s a problem with convictions of those who sexually abuse children that is going unnoticed by most in the media. Women who sexually abuse children have been getting far lighter sentences (if you can call them that) than men who commit the same crime. I’ve documented some of these cases previously.
In addition to Licona, there was former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Moly Shattuck, who was sentenced to 48 weekends at a work detention facility, which were spread out over two years, for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy who was the friend of her own son. There was also the case of a woman who pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of young boys at a trailer park in California. She received five years’ probation.
Meanwhile, men who sexually abuse children receive sentences that may be for hundreds of years in prison.
There should be stiffer punishment for people who commit such acts, though I’ve argued before that mandatory minimums are not the way to go, as they’ve failed for drug offenses. I just think that if someone is so upset about one individual case, they should look into what’s happening in others.
This article has been updated.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
