l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Son of Washington Democrat Pleads Guilty to Raping 11-Year-Old Boy
by Jammie
The kid had a hard life. His mother died when he was young, so there’s that
excuse. Besides, with the quaint rape laws we have, who’s to say this wasn
’t just young love and he’s a victim of our puritanical judicial system?
Who are we to judge!?!?
The son of a Washington state senator has pleaded guilty to rape after a
younger boy reported a series of incidents that occurred at the lawmaker’s
home.
Lewis County court records show the 15-year-old pleaded guilty Tuesday
to four charges of child molestation and four charges of raping a child. The
11-year-old victim in the case told authorities that state Sen. Brian
Hatfield’s son had abused him at Hatfield’s home in Raymond and at another
home in Chehalis, according to law enforcement documents.
The records say that Hatfield became aware of the abuse in mid-February
and had worked to keep the boys apart but did not report the matter to
authorities. Lewis County investigators first began examining the issue two
weeks ago after school officials reported that a student had disclosed
details of sexual abuse.
He worked to keep the boys apart? Really?
John Meyer, the prosecuting attorney in Lewis County, said he did not
expect charges would be filed against Hatfield for failing to report the
abuse because Hatfield is not required to report under state law.
“There’s no basis to file any charges,” Meyer said.
So an elected official can be aware of child rape in his own home, do
nothing, and face no consequences? Geez.
Hatfield, a Democrat, first joined the Legislature in 1994 and was re-
elected last year to the state Senate, where he is a leader on issues
relating to agriculture and rural economic development. He and his wife have
four children, and the law enforcement documents say the couple maintains
residences in both Pacific County and Lewis County.
Beckwith said Hatfield’s son has had several catastrophic losses in his
life, including the death of his biological mother at a young age.
“His extremely difficult childhood is a contributing factor in this
case, and is not an uncommon history of other juvenile offenders,” Beckwith
said in a statement.
Um, OK. So any of you out there who lost your mother at a young age are
hereby excused for any future criminal behavior. Heck, you might even get a
nice 30-day sentence for four counts of rape.
Plea documents indicate that officials will recommend the boy be
sentenced to 30 days in custody and two years of sex-offender counseling,
among other provisions.
Harsh. Check out this mealy-mouthed excuse.
“The Hatfield family has been asked to respond regarding Senator Brian
Hatfield’s son being accused of criminal offenses. Senator Hatfield was
told by his wife that she had witnessed some inappropriate behavior by his
son B.A.H. towards the end of February 2013. In abundance of caution,
Senator Hatfield called our office for a consultation for his son to see
what the best course of action would be.
“I privately interviewed B.A.H. in a conversation that is and was
protected by attorney/client privilege. That information was never disclosed
to Senator Hatfield or his wife. There was never any information that was
disclosed to Senator Hatfield that would trigger a legal requirement for him
to report any conduct to legal authorities.
“Upon my advice, Senator Hatfield changed his supervision plan for his
son and was in the process of setting up appropriate counseling at my
direction. When those things were in place it was the intention of B.A.H. to
turn himself in to the proper authorities to address the underlying
criminal offenses. Prior to being able to do that there was a report to law
enforcement, and B.A.H. turned himself in to law enforcement without
incident. | b*******n
发帖数: 8420 | | m**c
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