Well, as long as it's okay with Mom

Sunday, 02 September 2007 19:00

All the empathizing in Judge Rudy Nichols courtroom last week seemed to be for a child pornographer, not his two child victims.

Judge Nichols, of Oakland County (Pontiac), Michigan, sentenced Michael Sharpe, 59, to five years probation for secretly videotaping two girls changing clothes in his home, as well as possession of other child pornography. Sharpe lured the children from next door, telling their mother "he had new equipment to try out for an upcoming freelance photography assignment, and [asking] them to bring along several outfits," reports the Gannett News Service.

The girls' mother agreed with Sharpe's defense lawyer and Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton that Sharpe should not be incarcerated for his crimes against her children and others. "He needs help," she opined. "I don't think putting him behind bars and having him print out license plates or whatever happens behind bars is going to get him the help he needs." Judge Nichols, who like many judges seems to think that parents should be given the power to decide the value of their children's innocence and the legal harm they have suffered, said he was swayed by the woman's testimony.

"I've never heard arguments (presented) so well," said Nichols. "You couldn't have hired a better attorney." He then gave Sharpe probation, calling it "the tougest sentence" he's had to decide in his 17 years on the bench.

Email Sign-Up

The PROTECT Lobby

Our Mission

The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association. We are founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.

PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.

a Cube Creative Design site