Rock County, Wisconsin Judge Alan Bates recently stepped up to defend himself against attacks he was soft on child sexual abuse.

In one of three recent sweetheart sentences, Bates gave Michael Fraser, convicted of three counts of sexual assault of a child, one year in a jail work-release program and probation. Although he called Fraser's crime "vicious and aggravated" he said he would give Fraser "the keys to the peniteniary." "...I think a person who's 40 years old and who has lived the life you have lived and who has crossed some boundaries--you better recognize that I'm not talking about tippy-toeing across some boundaries--that you've got to learn some acceptance of responsibility in this case. I'm going to give you the opportunity to do that." Assistant DA Anne Nack had argued for 7 1/2 years in prison, followed by 17 1/2 years of community supervision. In an editorial entitled, "Pedophiles create tough judicial choices," the Gazette editors concluded that Bates is a "thoughtful, deliberate judge" whose record is "fairly consistent with that of the county's other judges."