Judge M. Marc Kelly, a judge in Orange County, California, recently handed down the softest sentence possible to a man that inexplicably raped a 3-year-old child. Judge Kelly’s decision, along with his explanation and reasoning behind it, not only raised many eyebrows, but set them aflame, inspiring fury across the nation with calls for the judge to resign.
The L.A. Times reports that those calling for Judge Kelly’s resignation include three Orange County supervisors.
Todd Spitzer, Shawn Nelson, and Lisa Bartlett, all Orange County Supervisors, joined together for a press conference in front of the Orange County courthouse to make their collective request that Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly step down from his honorable position of judge and resign.
All three agree that Judge Kelly’s sentencing of convicted child molester, Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto, was far too lenient and based on suspect reasoning, Judge Kelly sentencing Rojano-Nieto to even less time in prison than the most minimal suggested sentence for such a heinous crime.
Judge Kelly sentenced Rojano-Nieto to 10 years in prison instead of the recommended 25 year minimum sentence for sodomizing the three-year-old child.
But, apparently, more enraging for many was Judge Kelly’s comments explaining his soft-handed sentence, the judge not only seeming to show sympathy for the child molester, but even suggesting the 3-year-old girl played a part in her rape when she “wandered into the garage,” and Rojano-Nieto “inexplicably became sexually aroused.”
In the statement explaining his reasoning behind the minimal sentence, Judge Kelly also cited the allegedly difficult childhood of Rojano-Nieto and the “regret” the convicted child molester expressed for sodomizing the child.
“In looking at the facts of Mr. Rojano’s case, the manner in which this offense was committed is not typical of a predatory, violent brutal sodomy of a child case. Mr. Rojano did not seek out or stalk (the victim). He was playing video games and she wandered into the garage. He inexplicably became sexually aroused but did not appear to consciously intend to harm (the victim) when he sexually assaulted her… there was no violence or callous disregard for (the victim’s) well-being.”
Along with the Orange County Supervisors calling for Judge Kelly to hit the bricks, is a local dad, Bryan Scott, who was infuriated by Judge Kelly’s soft handed sentencing for the child molester, reports CBS Los Angeles .
In fact, Bryan Scott set up a Facebook page calling for Kelly to resign before the Orange County Supervisors.
“Why is this person allowed to sit on this bench and make these rulings?” said Scott in an interview with KCAL-9. “We put [Judge Kelly] there, and if we put him there, someone has to step up and say he needs to be removed from the bench.”
Scott’s Facebook page calling for Judge M. Marc Kelly’s ouster currently has 13,673 “Likes.”
[Images by John Moore, Getty Images, and Orange County District Attorny’s Office]