Du Pont heir dodged prison for raping 3-year-old daughter after judge ruled he 'would not fare well'

[captainordo]

This story is horrible, but the fact that he is barely being punished is not at all surprising. The DuPont family is so influential in Delaware, from governors, to lawyers and judges. They have lots of power and it seems that this power buy them immunity. This man deserves to rot in a jail cell, but because of double jeopardy that is impossible now, hopefully the judge in charge of the civil case will make him pay every penny that he has.

 

[Isra]

If they worry about his personal safety then they should just have him segregated from other prisoners, as is common practice with child molesters and rapists. Raping a kid? That should come with a mandatory prison sentence. I don't care how ill you are, you're a danger to the community if you do something like this. Prison is not simply a punishment, it exists to keep dangerous people out of society.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

He "wouldn't fare well?" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the idea?

 

[Raziel]

Guys, I'm pretty sure the phrase "Wouldn't do well" isn't referring to him being uncomfortable due to the shitty living conditions, I think it's referring to him being raped and murdered by other inmates. The judge just didn't want to give him a death sentence.

This has exactly shit to do with his money, and it REALLY has nothing to do with "affulenza".

You might have a point if all we had were grimdark Oz-esque prisons. And even in said prisons, it's not unusual to have prisoners at high risk of being harmed sectioned off and protected with other similar prisoners. Typically, if something does happen to a pedophile or any one else at risk, it's because he pled guilty to a lesser charge that got him stuck in general population instead of the segregated section like where he's supposed to be, ironically enough.

Exactly. If he wasn't rich he'd be in prison segregation without fail. They could even keep him in complete isolation if need be.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

He confessed to raping his own three year old daughter?! This looks like a good case for my "drag the filthy animal out back, put a bullet in his skull, chuck his carcass into a ditch, cover it with gasoline and toss in a match" form of justice.

Things like this have no right to exist.

 

[AntiChri5]

He "wouldn't fare well?" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the idea?

Really, who the fuck does fare well in prison? It's not exactly a friendly environment.

Lots of people are at risk in prison and lots of people get killed there. Too bad that this defense doesn't apply to them because they don't have enough money.

 

[Storm Dragon]

Signed and bugged my facebook friends to sign as well! It's really, REALLY hard to not just say "fuck wealthy people" when this type of story comes up. Hopefully this...human...will get his just desserts.

"Human"? I think that's being a bit generous. Hell, calling him an "animal" would be generous. He deserves far worse than what can legally be done to him.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

He "wouldn't fare well?" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the idea?

Really, who the fuck does fare well in prison? It's not exactly a friendly environment.

Nor should it be a friendly environment. In fact ideally it should be the most unfriendly environment imaginable in order to deter people from wanting to go there; preferably by not committing crimes and not by buying their way out with expensive lawyers and bullshit legal defences that would only fly in the most fucked up of legal systems.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I... what?! This is just a disgrace... Freaking rich people...

And this is why, if I ever had super powers, I would be a villain. I'd probably go mad with power and not only off this guy, but probably the judge as well.

...Is it wrong that I kinda agree? Humanity better pray that I never get superpowers...

 

[anthony87]

I love threads like this. Gives people a chance to come out and get their big moral stiffy and sense of self satisfaction for the day.

Shine on you crazy diamonds.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Always a bit worrying when people start calling someone like this an animal or whatever. Yes, what he did was inexcusable, but there are plenty more like him. It's nice to break it down between "us" and "monsters", but society isn't that simple.

Also...people like to say that rape is a crime that "we" all agree is totally wrong and unforgiveable, but this is only true of a given value of "we". The judge came down on the rapist's side (for whatever reason), and the judge the only person to do stuff like this.

 

[RoonMian]

I have brought Friedrich Nietzsche to this Forum already a number of times but it seems I have to do so again:

"But thus I counsel you, my friends: Mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful. They are people of a low sort and stock; the hangman and the bloodhound look out of their faces. Mistrust all who talk much of their justice! Verily, their souls lack more than honey. And when they call themselves the good and the just, do not forget that they would be pharisees, if only they had ? power."

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

And this is why, if I ever had super powers, I would be a villain. I'd probably go mad with power and not only off this guy, but probably the judge as well.

...Is it wrong that I kinda agree? Humanity better pray that I never get superpowers...

Yup, and this is why I can't stomach bloody Batman. And why I giggled like a prepubescent girl during that scene in Watchmen where Rorschach takes care of a child rapist/murderer

 

[Baron Teapot]

If he's likely to face serious danger in prison, it's fair to not send him there. He should absolutely be punished, just not by being shanked in a cafeteria.

This disgusts me. I want to be a fair and unbiased man, capable of offering mercy and understanding that desperate people do desperate things, and that murder is sometimes justifiable.

When is rape justifiable?

He is a father. That is something I may never be, and yet he has such little respect for his position as a parent that he's willing to destroy his own flesh and blood for some sick sexual thrill! I don't understand how a man could target his own child and assault her, having been charged to love, protect and teach her; keeping her safe from anything and everything for the rest of his life should have been the one thing he could do without question.

But he wanted to destroy her.

This man does need help. No sane person would choose to do this. But, in saying that, he's learned long ago that he can do whatever he pleases because of his money. If anything, it's proof that wealth corrupts infinitely, as even one's beloved daughter isn't safe from such evil.

I hope that he gets help. I hope that he remains chemically-castrated for the rest of his life, and will never lay his hand upon another human being again. He didn't just do this once - his son was also molested, meaning that he'll do it again (and is probably using his massive wealth to do just that right now as he is free) and must be stopped, chemically.

Right now I feel sad to be human.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Going to prison would mean his assured death sentence. In Jail, it is the murderers, drug dealers and mafioso who rule, and the scum of the earth are rapists and pedophiles. He appears to be both... which would land him rather quickly at the wrong end of a pointy shiv.

There are places where these offenders are locked up separately from other prisoners to protect them. His influence and funds allowed for this trick to take place, pleading guilty for a low-rate crime and then begging for mercy from the judge, on account of the terrible treatment his type of criminals get.

 

[Mathak]

Guys, I'm pretty sure the phrase "Wouldn't do well" isn't referring to him being uncomfortable due to the shitty living conditions, I think it's referring to him being raped and murdered by other inmates. The judge just didn't want to give him a death sentence.

This has exactly shit to do with his money, and it REALLY has nothing to do with "affulenza".

Yes, if the guy had, for example, been a poor african-american man instead of a member of one that state's wealthiest and most powerful families the judge would've been just as considerate about the circumstances in prison when passing her sentence.


Heheheheh. Totally.

 

[thewatergamer]

This ruling makes no sense "he wouldn't fare well"

Uhh correct me if I'm wrong judge but isn't that kind of the WHOLE POINT OF SENDING SOMEONE TO JAIL?

Also as far as the whole "getting raped/murdered by other inmates" Yes I'll agree that is not good, but people tend to over exaggerate how common that sort of thing is, as prison is pretty regulated by policemen and inmates were kept in separate cells depending on their crime to protect against that sort of thing (at least last I checked) sure it will happen every once in awhile but again prison isn't supposed to be a nice place

He sexually assaulted his daughter... that to me just makes me sick...

I'm not going to pretend like the stuff in prison DOESN'T happen because I know for a fact it does happen, but I think its really over exaggerated how often it happens...

*sigh* maybe if prison time was actually a serious punishment as opposed to just being stuck in a cheap apartment for a few years then people would not commit crimes as much...

Hell, I recently heard inmates are complaining they don't get satellite TV and PS3's instead they get stuck with cable...

MY GOSH SOMEONE HELP THEM

*sigh* Look I don't want to piss anyone off, and I am not going to pretend like nothing bad in prison ever happens, but its prison, ITS SUPPOSED TO BE A HORRIBLE PLACE TO GO

Also at this point... I'm sorry anyone that commits this disgusting of a crime knowing full well the consequences...

I barely consider people like that human, you can agree or disagree with me on this. but fact of the matter is Prison should be prison, not a cheap apartment that you are forced to stay in

 

[Someone Depressing]

True, he would get shanked, "a hot boaby up his erse fer warmth", then left to slowly die of sheer fright in his own pool of blood, tears and saliva, but he still has to be punished.

Like being locked in a cell underground - 3 hot meals a day, a shower, no annoying pesky children to distract him. He'd fare well in there.

 

[Therumancer]

If I have to be completely honest, sending him to prison for this would be a death sentence in itself, so the judge's decision is somewhat justified. I still want this sick bastard punished, but I trust that the rest of the public's going to dish him hell themselves.

Well, one of the whole problems is that the focus on our prison system is too much on rehabilitation as opposed to punishment. You suggest doing much to prisoners, including just putting them in little individual cubes and making them stay there permanently, and people tend to freak out. We need to give them exercise (complete with specialty equipment), educations, spiritual services of any sort they think is appropriate, and tons of other things that people complain about. As a general rule the only real "justice" when someone like a child molester is convicted is when the other inmates decide to single them out for special attention. Indeed people tend to be more afraid of other inmates in a general sense than they are of the prison system itself, which is kind of warped when you get down to it. The best defense of prison conditions is all that time outside and exercise equipment and such has in a lot of cases is that it gives the other inmates a real chance to go to work on say the wealthy dude who sexually abused three year olds. The public as a general rule have to worry about penalties (unlike those already locked up for years) so it's not like the same kind of thing is going to happen.

It seems that the so called "Affluenza" defense might be working to pretty much ensure that the really wealthy don't have to worry about that either.

Personally I'm sort of a believer in taking a lot of the kid gloves off of our prison system, as "inhumane" as it might sound. I'm also thinking that to an extent we might want to see about passing laws capping the amount of money someone can spend on their legal defense. You do have the right to representation, and to pick who is going to represent you, however by allowing what amount to paid bureaucratic mercenaries who themselves have political and legal connections to pressure the system, things are getting out of hand. To be honest this is always what Lawyers were, even back when trials first got started, BUT as time has gone on it's ballooned into a much bigger problem, and I think there needs to be some amendments put into the system to limit people's ability to buy the system. Half the problem is that when you pay a legal team millions of dollars, a big part of that cost is the bribes and such they pay through their own connections which is part of their service even if not admitted, big time Lawyers do indeed get rich, but they also
make other people rich. A cap on how much can be paid means lawyers won't be able to charge as much and thus aren't able to themselves pay people off to leverage the system to the same extent.


That's just my thoughts at any rate, I think cases like the one we're discussing show exactly how broken the system is.