Massachusetts Judge Poses A Risk To Children With Dangerous Decisions
Dave Gibson
February 04, 2009
On January 30, 2008, Saunders convinced the little boy who was sitting in the children´s section, while his mother worked on a nearby computer, to join him a few feet away in the magazine stacks of the New Bedford public library. In a taped interview, played in an April 2008 court hearing, the boy told a child protective services worker the ordeal was like being attacked by a "T-Rex and an alligator."
Tragically, this would not have happened if in 2006, Judge Richard T. Moses had not released Saunders from prison over the objections of prosecutors and a panel of psychologists. Massachusetts´ law states that a sex offender can be imprisoned indefinitely, even after they have completed their initial sentence, it is up to the judge´s discretion.
Though not even 30, Saunders has had a long and well-documented history of disturbing behavior. In 1999, while still a teenager, he tried to entice a 12 year old boy into having sex with him. Both Saunders and the young boy were living at the Stetson School, which specializes in dealing with emotionally disturbed juveniles.
Saunders reportedly confessed earlier to counselors at the school that he had 400 sexual fantasies a day revolving around very young boys. He also confessed to planning the rape and murder of another ten year old boy at the school.
Shortly after the incident with the 12 year old boy, the Stetson School decided to transfer Saunders to another facility, from which he escaped only two days later. Saunders was quickly picked up by police and taken to a foster home in Attleboro.
It was in that foster home that Saunders molested the seven year old son of the foster parent. In 2000, Corey Dean Saunders was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and attempted rape and abuse of a child under 16. He pled guilty and received four years in prison, as well as an additional 12 years probation.
The foster mom was never told of Saunders´ mental history, nor of the obvious danger he posed to young children.
However, Judge Moses who released Saunders in 2006, knew about his history and the obvious danger he posed to young children, and had it in his power to keep this monster in prison indefinitely, and chose to ignore the recommendations of three psychologists, and set him free. Moses cited the fact that there had been no reports of Saunders trying to rape anyone while incarcerated at the Bridgewater Correctional Institute, as the chief reason behind his decision.
Of course Saunders never tried to rape anyone in prison! There were no little children there!
New Bedford Police Lieutenant Jeffrey Silva spoke at a press conference, saying: "It should have ended with the Attleboro child. This guy is a pernicious sex offender preying on children all over the commonwealth."
Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter is seeking a life sentence for Saunders.
The costly decision made by Judge Moses reminds me of another judge who gave a another molester a slap on the hand.
In January 2006, Vermont Judge Edward Cashman sentenced an admitted child rapist to a mere 60 days in jail. Prosecutors were seeking at least an eight year sentence for the molester.
The molester (Mark Hulett) who received the incredibly light sentence admitted to Judge Cashman that he had raped his victim so many times over a three year period, that he had lost count of their encounters. Hulett began raping the little girl when she was only seven years old.
Now retired, Judge Cashman had been on the bench for 25 years. He now says that he no longer believes in punishment. Cashman wanted rapist Hulett to enter a counseling program and thought that was more important than keeping him off the streets for several years.
After his outrageous sentence received wide media coverage, Cashman reversed his decision and sentenced Hulett to three to ten years in prison, rather than 60 days.
Both Judge Moses and Judge Cashman provide glaring examples of why mandatory sentencing is needed in at least the most heinous of crimes.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the average child molester sexually abuses 117 children over his lifetime. Experience should tell us that child molesters cannot be rehabilitated. The only reliable solution to the problem is to extend the death penalty to these monsters.
Until we become serious about eliminating child molesters from our society, instead of only paying lip service to the plight of children, we cannot consider ours to be a truly civilized society. After all...What can be said for a nation which allows its most vulnerable citizens to be victimized not only by the molesters, but by the justice system as well?