Judge Has Rejoinder to ‘Tart’ Quote

This letter is in response to a recent article titled “Judge Likens Molestation Victim to ‘Tart’ ” (July 19). The reporter both misrepresented my position and provided an unbalanced account of the defendant’s sentencing.

The article stated that the defense attorney thought it was “proper” for the judge to comment that the victim was acting like a “tart.” In fact, the reporter never asked me whether I thought the judge’s comment was proper.

Instead, I replied to her question of “What was going on in there?” by stating that although there was no justification for the defendant’s conduct, unfortunately the victim appeared to have had prior sexual experience. That, I stated, was one of many factors the court should consider in determining the appropriate amount of custody time for the defendant.

It is also troubling that the article neglected to include many favorable facts about the defendant. For example, the story never mentioned the psychological evaluation that concluded that the defendant was not a pedophile and was unlikely to repeat the offense or the defendant’s expression of remorse and his request for forgiveness from the victim and her parents.

BROOKS TALLEY, Deputy Public Defender