I understand that. You are trying to minimize the immorality of the decision because he put himself into a undesirable situation to begin with. Joab, as soon as you leave your house in the morning you are putting yourself into an undesirable circumstance. Don't minimize the foolishness of this conviction because the guy made a mistake. It doesn't wash.
No I am not minimizing the "immorality of the punishment I have stated over and over that it was excessive( if we believe his excuse).
No I am not putting myself in an undue undesirable circumstance when I leave my house, unless I leave with the intention, or lack the will power not to, assault someone who has not done me harm other than inducing a small level of road rage. No matter how you rationalize it that's exactly what this amounts to.
Don't minimize the foolishness of this conviction because the guy made a mistake.
I don't minimize the foolishness of the conviction, mostly because I don't believe that the conviction was foolish, I believe that it was righteous and a direct result of his stupid actions.
It's the sentencing that I find foolish (If we believe his excuse) and even inexcusable.
But he would never have been in the position to receive the punishment if he wasn't an idiot. You seem to be trying to minimize that aspect
Here's some advice for those that still don't get it.
Keep your damn hands off little girls and there is a good chance that nobody will try to charge you with a sex crime against little girls.
If you grab at little girls with no right or reason be prepared to defend yourself against any and all charges that stem from this act of extreme stupidity.
And don't come crying to me when you get screwed.
If this guy were to admit his mistake instead of trying to rationalize it I might have some sympathy. Saying that he simply wanted to lecture her in no way explains or justifies physical contact.
I happen to believe his story over hers.
I meant to respond to that earlier. Fair enough something in all this gives you reason to believe him.
I on the other hand don't feel the same confidence in his story.
Something either in me or the story forces me to think that there may be something missing.
Maybe it's the fact that
The arresting agency (if there was on) believed that he should be arrested for his actions.
The DA believed that he should be charged for his actions
The Jury (assuming that there was one) believed that he was guilty of the charge
Possibly the DA was over zealous, possibly he just did not prove his case on the other charges.
Maybe he had a poor lawyer, maybe he had an excellent lawyer
Maybe his lawyer couldn't get him off on a ridiculous charge maybe he got him off on all the more serious charges. Haven't there been pedophiles that have gotten off when everyone knew that they really had committed the crimes but because of good lawyers they got off.
It almost happened here with the Ocoee Squirter.
The thing that sticks in my mind is that DAs need to win cases so why would all those extra charges be added on if they did not believe them to be valid.
Or maybe he's a fine upstanding citizen that had a bad case of the dumb ass that day, who really knows
Try something as simple as contact with no harm given or intended.
See here we have to agree to disagree and I think it is the crux of our disagreement I think harm was given if only mental and if only temporarily. You don't have the right to touch me I don't have the right to touch you,(
except in extreme circumstances, and this wasn't one. That's a fundamental truth as far as I'm concerned
I was responding to your statement that merely touching a strange child is equal to a child's abusive beating at the hands of his father.
OK I thought you were making a judgmental statement about MY dad and the clerk, my bad
I Believe that my statement ( I really don't feel like looking for it now) was that allowing some stranger to physically discipline children was no better than beating them yourself.
Not that you taking it on your self to touch someone elses child was the equivalent of their parents beating them.
That's a whole nother issue, that could get you arrested and convicted of something like unlawful restraint of a child but we could debate the merits of a case like that some other time