Punishment Too Severe

Re “Ex-Youth Leader Gets Life for Lewd Conduct,” July 12: The toe-sucking incidents, while certainly not acceptable, are nowhere close to life-in-prison in severity, either in intent or result. I cannot believe that the children involved have been scarred for life -- chances are they would not have made a connection between what happened and their sexuality and, at the most, it probably just seemed a little strange to them.

We feel an enormous sympathy for children who are sexually abused. We also feel hatred toward the abuser. Both are natural feelings, yet today’s abused often turns into tomorrow’s abuser. We should protect our children, absolutely, but we should also recognize the humanity of the offender.

Michael Wright

Irvine