A Delaware Superior Court judge, Jan Jurden, is under fire after sending a wealthy heir to the DuPont fortune to treatment rather than prison because Robert H. Richards IV would “not fare well” in prison after being convicted of raping his 3-year-old daughter. [A review of the record shows the concern raised about not faring well in prison but it is not clear how stated this concern. The Judge did express concern over the lack of jail time, though it is not clear why the Judge approved the sentence]
Jurten was convicted of fourth degree rape. Under state law, fourth degree rape is defined as:
§ 770 Rape in the fourth degree; class C felony.
(a) A person is guilty of rape in the fourth degree when the person:
(1) Intentionally engages in sexual intercourse with another person, and the victim has not yet reached that victim’s sixteenth birthday; or
(2) Intentionally engages in sexual intercourse with another person, and the victim has not yet reached that victim’s eighteenth birthday, and the person is 30 years of age or older, except that such intercourse shall not be unlawful if the victim and person are married at the time of such intercourse; or
(3) Intentionally engages in sexual penetration with another person under any of the following circumstances:
a. The sexual penetration occurs without the victim’s consent; or
b. The victim has not reached that victim’s sixteenth birthday.
Richard was accused of rape after his ex-wife Tracy filed a lawsuit over the abuse of his daughter. Richards lives off a trust fund and has no job. His great-grandfather is du Pont family patriarch Irenee du Pont, and his father is Robert H. Richards III and was a named partner at the Richards Layton & Finger law firm. He lives in a mansion worth $1.8 million in Greenville. He was accused of sexually abusing his infant son between 2005 and 2007 as well as his daughter starting when she was 3. He was originally indicted on two counts of second-degree rape of a child. After the girl described sexual abuse, Tracy Richards confronted her then-husband who allegedly admitted to the abuse but said “it was an accident and he would never do it again.”
Richards took a plea to one count of rape in the fourth degree, which has no mandatory time but can result in up to 15 years in jail.
The plea bargain likely reflected the challenge of any trial based on dated accounts of a very young child. However, what Richards did plead guilty to fourth degree rape, still a very serious offense. The question is whether it is appropriate for such a felon to be spared jail due to the adjustment needed in going from a mansion to a prison cell. For some it reminds them of the recent affluenza case in Texas.
Defense lawyer Joseph A. Hurley insisted that the court got it right: “Sex offenders are the lowest of the low in prison. He’s a rich, white boy who is a wuss and a child perv. The prison can’t protect them, and Jan Jurden knows that reality. She is right on.”
What do you think?
Source: Delaware Online
Why are we not discussing this?
http://nypost.com/2014/03/31/68k-undocumented-immigrants-with-criminal-records-released-in-2013-report/
The Obama administration in 2013 released nearly 68,000 undocumented immigrants who had criminal records – many of them in New York and New Jersey, according to a new review of immigration data.
The shocking numbers came from a report released Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank that studies immigration patterns.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement data showed that New York’s ICE office released 5,391 – about 71 percent of the 7,571 criminal undocumented immigrants it encountered, a rate second only to San Antonio, which released 79 percent.
The Newark office came in fourth, releasing 2,149 about 60 percent of 3,581, right behind third-place Washington DC, which released 64 percent.
Nationally, the 67,879 criminals released represented about 35 percent of all undocumented immigrants with convictions ICE encountered, according to the report, titled “Catch and Release.”
Since June 2011, when the first of the administration’s “prosecutorial discretion” policies went into effect, ICE arrests have declined by 40 percent, the report said.
“These figures suggest that despite claims of a focus on public safety, the administration’s prosecutorial discretion criteria are allowing factors such as family relationships, political considerations, or attention from advocacy groups to trump criminal convictions as a factor leading to deportation,” said the report, written by CIS director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan.
An ICE spokeswoman defended the feds efforts to get undocumented criminals out of the country.
“ICE is focused on the removal of criminal aliens. In Fiscal Year 2013 the agency removed 216,000 convicted criminals. The percentage of criminals removed continues to rise,” said ICE rep Dani Bennett.
“Nearly 60 percent of ICE’s total removals had been previously convicted of a criminal offense, and that number rises to 82 percent for individuals removed from the interior of the US. The removal of criminal individuals is and will remain ICE’s highest priority.”
Having worked as a correctional officer in an earlier life, I can tell you the judge is right. Sentencing him to prison is the same as giving him a death sentence. Even though he would be in isolation, he would be at great risk. Prisoners have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to think of a way to get to him. Whoever get him would have additional status inside the prison, it would be worth any additional time added to their sentence.
I agree with whomever suggest chemical castration. That would be an additional safeguard for the public. He will be a registered sex offender. Not allowed around children. Not allowed to live near schools, etc. It is not going to be an easy life for him when he gets out.
A lot of people still support a church widely known to have protected priests who similarly abused children. Behavior of the church and the justice system are far worse than most of those they are supposed to be constraining.
Edit, Jonathan. Some of your posts have obvious typos. In this one you state that “Jurten was convicted” etc. That’s the Judge’s name.
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2014 14:19:07 +0000 To: brwjr37@hotmail.com
Judge needs to be jailed along with “IT”.
Mary Link
>
Most prison have a protective protocol for unpopular inmates , e.g. , rogue judges , rogue prosecutors , rogue LEOs , etc .
Laser, I worked in the justice system my entire career and I give an “Amen” to that.
Guess what? ‘Treatment’ is ineffective for offenders whose primary sexual orientation is children. This man should be castrated and the judge needs some balls.
I’ve been a victim of “Deal”aware sense of justice against Romney & RICO Gang for over a decade now; and this ruling surprises me not.
There’s an invisible law in the State of “Deal”aware that stipulates power, money and might makes right over the Constitution(s) state or federal.
Can the prosecutor appeal the judge’s sentence? Or did the prosecutor went along with it?
On the other hand, if he has a diagnosed, mental illness (and clearly he does, since he committed such a horrendous crime?), then it is very common for these individuals to be placed in a treatment facility and on probation, especially if he, or any mentally ill individual, was adjudicated in a mental health court.
As I had to point out to a barrister here a few days ago, there are 2 systems of justice in this country, one for the wealthy and politically connected, and one for us regular folk. This should only be disgusting, not surprising and certainly not shocking.
Sure, the judge is right on when it is a DuPont heir. Any other person off the street would be doing serious time. Is he a registered sex offender now or was he spared that too?? Disgusting.
Disgusting…wonder how much was deposited in the Judge’s off-shore bank account?
“If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime”–lock him up.
……..and do we care if he fares well in prison? Nope.
Very few people fare well in prison. This is outrageous!
Maybe this judge should be reminded that NO child molester does well on prison. The judge needs to think of the VICTIMS before the perpetrator. This vile piece of filth has destroyed two young lives that he was supposed to protect. The judge needs to be removed from the bench aince she is so easily swayed in her decisions by the all mighty dollar. Did anyone investigate her finances?
jeffery dahmer. look what happened to him.
What happened to the white collar minimum security prisons?
Club Fed is only for Federal crooks who were only trying to get a better life. Thus the compassion shown.
I think that Delaware is not only corporate friendly, but ruling class friendly. Thus no surprise! We have one set of rules for the rich, and another for the rest of us. It would do him a lot of good to rub elbows with his fellow crooks and see how the rest of us live.
Lock up the Trust Fund wuss