Rapist Of Four-Year-Old Girl Sentenced To Only One Year
Posted by: Carrie Wasterlain
Filed in:
news
3:20PM, Thursday June 18th 2009
After being convicted of raping a four-year-old girl, ex-convict and Oklahoman native David Harold Earls is being sentenced to only one year in prison. He reportedly “struck a deal” in which 19 out of 20 of the years he was supposed to spend in jail were suspended.
So, how on earth did this happen? Supposedly, the rape victim (now five), made “contradictory statements during pretrial hearings.” At one point the toddler even left the court room and ran down the hallway. Can you believe that!? I guess that means her rapist is innocent!
On a less sarcastic note…This is unbelievable, not to mention frightening. Oklahoman citizens are outraged as well, and lawmakers are trying to get the judge who approved the plea bargain removed.
Barbara Bonner, director of the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, gave some insight into the difficulties that arise when a young child testifies against an adult during a trial. “Particularly in cases of young children, they have very high levels of anxiety associated with the abuse,” she told the Huffington Post. “They’ll do anything to avoid talking about it.”
And I would too. But it seems pathetic that just because this abused child can’t muster up what would have to be heroic courage to explain her case to a jury, her rapist will walk (nearly) free. A medical exam showed evidence that the girl was sexually assaulted, and Earls pleaded “no contest” to first-degree rape and forcible sodomy. Let’s put two and two together here, and protect our beloved children.
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TOO_DOPE
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 03:26 pm: [report]
This is disgusting. There are no words. What the hell is this world (Country)coming to? Horrible. Southern Justice, yo. I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’.
snap
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 03:31 pm: [report]
outrageous
BeASimpleMan
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 03:47 pm: [report]
The only “light” one can make of this story is that this bastard is going to jail in Oklahoma.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20728210/
Seriously, if okies castrate people for wearing texas longhorn gear, what do you think awaits this demon?
MissChaotic
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 03:56 pm: [report]
Why is it that if you shoot yourself, if you make dogs fight, or if you rob someone without weaponry, you do more time than a rapist?
Seriously screwed up.
EarthGoddess
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 04:12 pm: [report]
I sincerely hope the year he spends in jail is the last year of his life.
40yrolddad
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 04:36 pm: [report]
@ the risk of being rational about such an inflammatory subject (& I have a 5 yr old daughter BTW) like it or not the prosecutor’s being smart - this way he’ll still be registered as a sex offender (a case where those laws actually make sense) and I GUARANTEE you someone’s going to make sure he gets nailed within 48 hours of release for violating some provision of OK’s flavor of those laws which are typically written to make compliance effectively impossible. if they go to trial and he’s acquitted they can’t touch him - why even risk that when he’s voluntarily & irreversibly crossing the event horizon that is the sex offender registry? if they succeed in torpedoing the plea deal he’s also got a pretty strong case for not being able to seat an impartial jury bc of the publicity - people need to be careful they don’t cut their noses off to spite their face…
don’t worry, this guy’s going to be spending a LOT more than one year of the rest of his life in prison & this assumes he survives THAT year (far from given in his case)...
writergirl
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 04:47 pm: [report]
40yearolddad is right….as disgusting as the initial outcome is.
That being said, I hope they put this guy in general population—ain’t no way he’ll survive it.
VsegdaOdna
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 04:57 pm: [report]
I hope the reason he’s in jail is “accidentally” leaked to the other prisoners. They’ll be sure to give him a taste of his own medicine.
hellosunrise
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 05:08 pm: [report]
how is it he’s only getting a year for the horrendous, sick thing he did? just so unbelievably sad.
marv3mania
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 05:11 pm: [report]
I hate to add more bad news to this case, but if Oklahoma is anything like most jurisdictions (including the federal system), he might only get county time because it’s a one year sentence. Meaning he’ll be alongside people busted for possessing pot, shoplifting, and drunk driving. He won’t be in with the violent felons. I could be (and certainly hope I am) wrong about that, but sentences of one year or less are misdemeanors, and those people serve time in a county jail rather than a state prison.
marv3mania
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 05:15 pm: [report]
Also, little kids are notoriously unreliable witnesses. More people charged with criminal sexual conduct are acquitted than you’d think simply because the kids they (allegedly) raped/molested often have trouble making clear, consistent statements. And without reliable evidence (namely, witness testimony), it’s difficult to reach the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard.
crustee
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 05:36 pm: [report]
I just vomited all over my computer.
duckie
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 05:54 pm: [report]
@ 40yrolddad I totally agree. The thing about criminal court cases is that the conviction have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt- so it may seem absurd to give this guy a plea bargain, but it perfectly fits the circumstance. Getting an impartial jury is near impossible in high profile type cases like ones that deal with child rape. The sad thing is that if he is a pedophile (opposed to someone who is sexually attracted to adults but sexually abuses a child) there is a near 100% chance of him re offending. What this guy really needs is mental help- probably in a locked facility. Its easy to want to condemn him because he did such a horrible thing but there is a lot more at play with this man, and the most important thing is that we do what we can to keep children safe.
Also @MissChaotic-(attempted)suicide is not illegal. At least not officially, it has been tried in 6 states- but I believe unsuccessfully. I have read that there are specific laws to it being illegal in Washington and Oregon, but I’m not 100% on that. But there are a lot of incongruous penalties that have been made law because of different political agendas
AlbanianBeauty
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 07:31 pm: [report]
oh how disgusting!!! The most disgusting people on earth, child rapists.
shannac02
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 08:01 pm: [report]
Yup, this is my state. I offer this small morsel of hope: the judge that accepted the plea deal is being investigated as is his handling of this case. This guy is going to kick the bucket soon, which I’m not sad about. He will almost certainly die in prison, however, the judge really dropped the ball on this one… Usually judges in Oklahoma are pretty hard on Sex Offenders, especially child rapists, but, rest assured, where the judge failed, bubba and Joe Bob will succeed. I’m pretty surprised the child’s family members haven’t had the offender done away with yet…
thesirensong
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 11:17 pm: [report]
You know, it’s people like him who make me believe in the death penalty; we just don’t need him in society. So only a year sentence is just unacceptable - whether it’s rational or not, he deserves everything the law can throw at him.
I really hope he goes to prison, and I hope he’s put with the rest of the inmates. It’s always interested me that the people rawho pe, murder, and terrorize others will still go after child rapists - and if anyone deserves that, it’s this guy.
Just disgusting.
thesirensong
wrote on June 18 2009 @ 11:21 pm: [report]
Also, the fact that the justice system expects a FOUR-YEAR-OLD to give a clear testimony seems a bit unfair. I know we’re supposed to give the benefit of the doubt to the defendant, but I feel like an exception should be made when the victim has barely figured out three-word sentences. Come on, people!
valisono
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 12:17 am: [report]
I agree with 40yrolddad; I also heard on CNN that the prosecution’s case apparently wasn’t air tight. Better a conviction and ‘sex offender’ status than full exoneration.
Also, before we get too upset with with the issue of children’s testimonies, it’s also important to remember cases like the Bakersfield child molestation case from the 1980s. I also personally know of a case where a young boy was pressured by a parent to denounce an adult for molestation - except that exhaustive investigations by police, psychologists, etc. etc. revealed that the alleged molestation had never taken place. I’m not saying that that’s what happened here, but there are reasons why children’s testimonies are so problematic.
Riley
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 06:57 am: [report]
Was wondering when this story would come over this way.
From all that I have read on this story, it seems that the DA and the Child Advocate did all that they could to ensure a conviction. The judge trusted their opinion that the case could possibly go to the defendant’s favor; so he approved the plea bargain.
Yeah it is terrible; he shouldn’t have been able to get off so easily. As others have said, children testimony is shaky at best; they had to go with what they felt could be attained. He will at least be on the radar now after spending some time in jail.
It is asinine to be calling for the judge to step down. I’d be willing to bet most of those people calling for the judge’s blood don’t know much more than the headlines given to this story to sensationalize it even further.
AgentBeryllium
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 08:02 am: [report]
@shannaoc2 I sure hope your right.
shannac02
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 08:05 am: [report]
He Supposedly has a terminal cancer, so, I think they’re banking on him dying in prison. If he was perfectly healthy, they probably would have plead him for more time.
bunnymatic
wrote on June 19 2009 @ 10:26 am: [report]
he needs to die and make space for better people to exist.
marv3mania
wrote on June 27 2009 @ 03:52 pm: [report]
After asking a couple professors (practicing attorneys in criminal law), I’m fairly certain that this guy will serve his one year in jail, not prison. So he won’t be in with the violent felons. Jail is obviously no cakewalk, but it’s mostly people convicted of misdemeanors, not felonies. That makes the weak plea deal all the more disappointing.
bbpickles
wrote on June 27 2009 @ 04:46 pm: [report]
@40yrolddad- I understand that this disgusting piece of crap will most likely be right back in slammer shortly after his release, since almost ALL sex offenders are repeat offenders, but does that justify letting him torture another innocent 4 yr. old child? I don’t think so. How many kids need to have their childhood taken from them before our justice system treats sex offenders like murderers. That’s what they are, that little girl will NEVER forget what happened to her, and she has no chance at a normal life because some pervert wanted to get his rocks off! It’s not fair!
Claireific
wrote on July 2 2009 @ 01:31 pm: [report]
@ bbpickles - I don’t think it’s accurate to say “she has no chance at a normal life”. Children that young are extremely resilient, and it all depends on how she responds mentally, how her family supports her, and how she responds in therapy. She has literally her entire life ahead of her and every chance to recover. It seems a bit histrionic to condemn her to a life of problems and psychological traumas this early, no?