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Rape Culture: Judge Praises Convicted Rapist

calamity

calamity

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Jesus Christ! This is just crazy.

Rape Survivor Listens As Judge Praises Former Mormon Bishop Who Abused Her | The Huffington Post

Utah Judge Thomas Low allegedly held back tears as he sung the praises of Keith Vallejo, a former bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found guilty of sexually abusing two women in separate incidents dating back to at least 2013, reports local news channel KUTV.

“The court had no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man,” Low told the courtroom Wednesday moments before sentencing Vallejo. “But great men, sometimes do bad things.”

Julia Kirby, who was 19 years old when her brother-in-law assaulted her, said she was appalled by Low’s decision to offer a glowing character assessment of Vallejo.
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That was wrong for the judge to say that. When you commit something as despicable as rape, you are not a "great" person.
 
TheGoverness said:
That was wrong for the judge to say that. When you commit something as despicable as rape, you are not a "great" person.
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"...who sometimes does bad things."
 
The judge should be able to be legally punched in the balls by the victims or a representative of the victims' choosing.
 
Moot said:
The good news is the SLTrib just got a Pulitzer Prize for their investigative journalism on the LDS church's cover up on rape. The judge probably would've let him go if not for that.
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I get the distinct feeling that judge did everything he could to keep this guy from serving 20-plus years. Sentences were sort of a joke: Minimum of 1 and 5 yr for sexual assault and the rape.
 
calamity said:
I get the distinct feeling that judge did everything he could to keep this guy from serving 20-plus years. Sentences were sort of a joke: Minimum of 1 and 5 yr for sexual assault and the rape.
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The judge probably went to BYU and believes in the "honor code."


At the bottom off the article there's a plethora of articles about rape and the honor code....


Salt Lake Tribune wins Pulitzer for campus rape coverage, praises victims for sharing their stories | The Salt Lake Tribune
 
TheGoverness said:
That was wrong for the judge to say that. When you commit something as despicable as rape, you are not a "great" person.
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So all the good a person does is wiped away the second you do something bad?
 
lurchadams said:
That's pretty horrible a judge calling a convict a "great man" in front of his rape victim. Total disregard for the horror the victim experienced.
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As if that was not bad enough... look at this person laughing about sentencing.

“The justice system is funny,” Vallejo told the courtroom Friday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

When people openky laugh at victims it is pretty severe.
 
lurchadams said:
That's pretty horrible a judge calling a convict a "great man" in front of his rape victim. Total disregard for the horror the victim experienced.
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I agree the judge should have not done this and polictly its bad, insensitive to the victom. But he did find the man guilty so at least there was no bias. He propably has great respect for the man and probably is a follower of that religion. I think we can all think of instances say if your father was found guilty of this crime. All the good and the love is still there and you will be saden by your own greif to loose him to jail. I think its possible to condem a mans actions and sentence him accordinly but yet feel a great deal of sorrow and sadness at a loss you personally feel.
 
jdog21 said:
I agree the judge should have not done this and polictly its bad, insensitive to the victom. But he did find the man guilty so at least there was no bias. He propably has great respect for the man and probably is a follower of that religion. I think we can all think of instances say if your father was found guilty of this crime. All the good and the love is still there and you will be saden by your own greif to loose him to jail. I think its possible to condem a mans actions and sentence him accordinly but yet feel a great deal of sorrow and sadness at a loss you personally feel.
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Sentencing the convict is the jurist's job. The convict put the young lady though a trauma. The judge should not have praised the convict in public. Totally insensitive to the plight of the poor young lady. The judge could always visit the convict in prison and praise him in private to his heart's content.
 
How dogma blinds.

Utterly despicable.
 
Peter King said:
Disgusting, horrible and sending the entire wrong message to his victims. I hope this judge publicly apologizes for his disgusting comments and also personally apologizes to each of this perverts victims.
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The only thing I can think of which might mitigate this despicable conduct is that the judge was star struck by having a bishop of his own religion standing before him. So, he fawned over him a bit before handing down a sentence he rather not hand down. But...

That is horrible. And, if it is widespread, it certainly raises concerns about victim's rights in that state when the offender is an elder of the Mormon Church.
 
Bodhisattva said:
So all the good a person does is wiped away the second you do something bad?
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Good people don't rape. He has been nothing but a sexual deviant who has paraded around as just another good church going boy.

He got caught and now he can enjoy some quality time with other criminals.
 
Crosscheck said:
Good people don't rape. He has been nothing but a sexual deviant who has paraded around as just another good church going boy.

He got caught and now he can enjoy some quality time with other criminals.
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You didn't answer the question... try again.
 
lurchadams said:
Sentencing the convict is the jurist's job. The convict put the young lady though a trauma. The judge should not have praised the convict in public. Totally insensitive to the plight of the poor young lady. The judge could always visit the convict in prison and praise him in private to his heart's content.
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He has the freedom of speech and of expression.
 
the judge demonstrated complete lack of sensitivity to the victim

the praise was improperly timed

I do however believe that we are not the complete sum of our actions even when those actions are deviant and victimize another

we as a society should never lose sight of that or we become blinded and corrupted ourselves
 
Agreed. But this case, like the Brock Turner case, is also a reminder that most judges are NOT remiss like this one.
 
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