Guilty of sexually assaulting a 6 year old - but no consequences

[feministfairy]

Unbelievable! This poor child (upsetting content)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/student-guilty-of-sex-assault-on-girl-6-will-not-be-punished-rpzdx6bmv?shareToken=a5f3f8d4d214df63fa3b4d0f4323ea4c

There is already a thread on FWR but this needs sharing as widely as possible

Yes jail time won’t rehabilitate him but if he’s locked up at least he can’t harm another child.

The issue is about 15-17 year olds (the age he did this) being seen as "just" children, as if they are 7 year olds.

do you think someone capable of raping a little girl at 15
It wasn't rape, it was 'sexual touching'. I know this isn't go to make a blind bit of difference to the online mob, but the offence that he was charged with should be made clear.

You are twisting my words. I dont think hes low risk. I just said it should be on his record and he should be kept away from children. I just dont think its beneficial to put people in prison as children because you eventually have to let them out again... and theres a high chance they will have met many other people just like them in prison and be much more violent when they come out... they are also much more likely statistically to reoffend.

Fancynancyclancy point is they cannot lock him up indefinitely for that crime.... so him not being rehabilitated is pretty important in this instance because if they just threw him in prison the likelihood of him doing it again actually goes up not down

Bloody hell, he didn't rape this girl, but of course a 15 year old is capable of rape.

Ribbonsonabox I’m not necessarily advocating for prison but you said it would serve no purpose, it would whilst he was inside.

Personally I don’t have much faith in his rehabilitation particularly as this crime has gone unpunished. I also have little faith in the ability for the relevant authorities to stop him harming another child.

The victim’s family were not allowed to see a report sent by the sheriff to the Crown Office explaining his “wholly exceptional” decision, an STV investigation has found. They believe that Daniel’s middle-class background, strong educational attainment and career prospects helped to convince the sheriff to grant the most lenient possible disposal.

Hmm. Surely the fact that he (presumably) has caring MC parents and all the advantages that brings should mean he has a MORE severe sentence, not a less severe one?

If he's attracted to young girls at his age, then will that change as he gets older?

And he's going to be a dentist? Just what women and girls want.

And he was definitely found guilt: He was granted the discharge by Sheriff Gerard Sinclair after being found guilty at Dumbarton sheriff court at the end of a three-day trial

I don't think characterising people complaining about this as an unreasonable "online mob" makes much sense here. There has been a clear miscarriage of justice, it is understandable that the general public would question that.

He was 17 when he was stopped because the child made a disclosure.

That isn’t a 15 year old displaying poor judgement- that’s two years of sexual abuse which could still be going on, post 18, had she not made that disclosure.

But he’s been shown that his academic achievements make him untouchable, and she’s been shown that being brave and speaking out, once she realised that this was wrong, makes no difference whatsoever -because she’s a girl
.

He was 15. Not a young child, a child on the cusp of young adulthood, who continued to abuse a child of 6 for two years. U til he was 17 and she was 8. She was put through an interview which was lost. She was put through a cross examination at the age of 8 or 9. And she was told that she doesn't matter. That her future doesn't matter. That her bravery doesn't matter. That an adult sized young adult, with good job prospects matter more than the childhood and future she's lost. That is the truth of how we still treat our young children. As commodities if you've got the right background and breeding

My ds is 15. He has Aspergers and sometimes sees the world slightly differently from me and you but he knows what's right and wrong, as does every other 15year old.

My dd is 7 so this has really pulled at my heartstrings, how on earth will she ever get over that?
I would be interested to know why he's got off with it but yet his picture is splashed across the internet and papers etc?
Genuine question.

Thank god it has though as this will affect him so much more than any prison sentence. He will lose friends/relationships and hopefully his place at university.
This will always follow him around and rightly so. Would anyone be comfortable having him as their dentist? Obviously not.

If this was my son I would be thoroughly ashamed and would not be looking for mitigating circumstances to lessen the punishment. He must be truly fucked up in the head so very likely he won't pass his course anyway.

Poor little girl :(

I understand the problem with imprisoning children (Christopher Daniels is now 18 and committed these offences between the ages of 15 - 17).
But society does need some boundaries. Some markers as to what is acceptable and what isn't. For Daniels to have received NO consequences - especially not being put on the sex offenders register - is failing to condemn his actions
No conditions about approaching the child, no orders banning him from accessing porn (if that was a factor), no compulsory treatment or therapy - nothing to address the offending. Just an off you go and we'll hush this up as far as possible.

That can't be right?

He's not going to be kept away from children, though. He's gotten away with it, and can now go on with his life as if nothing had ever happened.

Excellent post feministfairy

And I agree that him coming from a supportive family background makes this worse. He has had every advantage and it has made no difference.
This lad will sexually assault and probably rape another girl.

Fancynancy well what's the answer then? Hanging!.... I mean the justice system cant just throw its hands in the air about people regardless of what they've done... it's easy for us to sit here and bang on about harsher punishments... but they do have to actually look at the statistics and what is actually going to be of most benefit in the situation. And they have to look at that coldly. So I can see why he has got no jail time and they have brought up his background and intelligence level etc... because statistically he has the most chance of not reoffending if he is dealt with in the community.
And there does have to an arbitrary line where someone is tried as a child unfortunately... you cannot just move that because the crime particularly upsets you... he was under 18 when the crimes took place.. under 16 for some of them.... and so that will effect the sentence.

Like I said though I am worried if he has no record at all....
But other pp are saying he will do? So he will be kept an eye on?
I'd hope that his family have agreed for him to have quite a lot of psychological intervention.

It's absolutely awful for that 6 year old girl... but the justice system needs to focus on protecting other 6 year old girls and if 'punishing' that boy harshly comes into conflict with that then they have to prioritise protecting other children dont they? And there is tonnes of evidence that prison for young people massively increases the chances of reoffending

No he will not be kept an eye on, not officially. Nothing will happen to him at all. No jail, no mandated therapy, no probation, nothing.

He should be on the sex offender's register 100%. There is 0 reason for that not to be the case, since the whole thing is designed to track and monitor dangerous predators, which he clearly is.

If the courts believe a prison sentence offers no benefit, how about community service? Some sort of punishment to act as a deterrent, to avoid sending a message that you can sexually abuse a girl for two years and get away with it scot-free?

Ribbonsonabox Who mentioned hanging? He has received no punishment! Surely there is a middle ground?

Would you be satisfied with his punishment if it was your child?

There are posters on this thread who can't see the victim, all their sympathy is for the abuser, who will face no punishment at all.

''He was granted the discharge by Sheriff Gerard Sinclair after being found guilty at Dumbarton sheriff court at the end of a three-day trial. It means that Christopher Daniel will not be placed on the sex offenders register and the guilty verdict was not recorded as a conviction.''

Go back and read the article again if you don't understand what the thread is about. You've missed the point that he was found guilty and will face no consequences.

Initially my thoughts were the Dental Council should not let this man continue his training but I actually think he should be allowed to finish. He should complete his training with no access to children as a student. He should then be only allowed to treat adults in a fully supervised and chaperoned setting, say a prison hospital. Prisoners get their teeth sorted and this man isn’t allowed to go off to do another career that would allow his paedophilia to go unchecked, such as a priest, a gymnastics coach or a job at the BBC.

He should have received a custodial sentence with rehabilitation / treatment programmes attached. Those commenting that jail won’t achieve anything are wrong. Firstly it’ll teach him that terrible actions have terrible consequences but also it show the victim that her pain and suffering were recognised. Justice has to be done but also seen to be done. What message does this convey to other paedophiles?

I was sexually assaulted in my teens twice, once by a stranger (I was in a shop, aged 12 and it was the shop owner), the second time it was my step father. Both times I was pinned, my genitals and breast groped, and forcefully kissed. I appreciate that many others have had worse experiences so in some regards, I got off lucky. The shopkeeper received a 17 month sentence and was deported, my stepfather got a suspended sentence of 15 months. The apparent mitigating factors was I was now two years older. My stepfather went on to sexually assault one sister and sexually abuse another AFTER he was found guilty of assaulting me.

A lack of consequences is simply condoning the behaviour and victimises the poor girl again.

No I wouldn't I'd expect him to be on the sex offenders register for at least 10 years and I'd expect him to be in some kind of court ordered psychological intervention