After being convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old boy, her student in a middle school, the 25-year old Lafave received a cushy plea deal in Florida.Judge Wayne Timmerman sentenced Lafave to just three years' house arrest, then seven years probation. She could have gotten 30 years in state prison.
Now Timmerman's ridiculous sentence was rejected by another judge, Hale Stancil, who said it undermined the justice system. Judge Stancil's absolutely correct, but Timmerman got the last word, and now has even allowed LaFave to appear on NBC to discuss the crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAFAVE: Pretty much it was oral sex. Yes, he wanted it. And yes, I gave it to him.
MATT LAUER, NBC ANCHOR: You had intercourse with him at school?
LAFAVE: Yes.
LAUER: 14-year-old boy, very attractive 23-year-old teacher. He's had sex with you. Weren't you scared to death he would tell someone?
LAFAVE: Obviously not, because I did it again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now LaFave went on to blame her criminal activities on being bipolar and being raped at age 13 by another teenager -- a charge she can't prove.
But the tragedy of this situation is that Debra Lafave should be in prison, not making excuses on national TV. The villains are, of course, LaFave and Judge Timmerman.
Now the situation reflects the continuing problems the American justice system is having protecting children.
While the country has made great strides over the past year in passingJessica's Law, there are still far too many judges like Timmerman who do not take child sex crimes seriously. And there are 10 states that flat-out will not get tough on child molesters.
Massachusetts has no mandatory minimums for child predators. Speaker of the House Sal Dimasi, big villain in that state. Wyoming, no mandatories. Governor Dave Freudenthal is the villain here. Vermont, no mandatory minimums, and is soft on child predators across the board. Not a kid friendly state. Maryland, no mandatories. Senator Brian Frosh is the villain. Tennessee, no mandatories. Governor Phil Bredesen the villain. Idaho also, no mandatory minimum sentences. Former Governor Kempthorne was the bad guy. Hawaii, Montana, Maine, and Utah, also child predator friendly states. If you live there, please put pressure on your governor.
For far too long, we in America have cut brutal child predators far too much slack. Debra LaFave is the poster woman for shameless behavior. Instead of counting herself lucky to get such a light sentence from Judge Timmerman, she parades herself in front of the nation, trying to get sympathy. Awful. And that's "The Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
The Air America radio network is apparently filing for bankruptcy this week. Of course, we told that you would happen more than a year ago. But this is a "no gloat zone." So I'll just state the obvious: The network failed because it is full of haters. They are not funny; they are not fair-minded. Why would anyone listen?
Also, The New York Times and other liberal media constantly propped up Air America. It will be interesting to see if the left finally reports the honest story about this enterprise. But don't bank on it, and that, of course, is beyond ridiculous.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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