Protecting Who (part 1 of 3)

The problem is that many of these criminals are able to plea bargain down their charges. Even more are able to keep their true actions under wraps until it's too late to hold them accountable (like in our case.) Massive sex predators are grossly mismanaged in the legal system. One example from our case: Patrick's one-year jail sentence was reduced to 10 days in jail and two years of probation. We were told that if Patrick violated his probation conditions, then his plea agreement would be void and he would have to serve the full jail sentence. In actuality, if someone violates their parole conditions, the judge has many lenient options.

Patrick did violate his parole conditions, he went before the judge. We were not notified. Patrick spent only five additional days in jail. I still have not been able to confirm exactly what his violation was, but I was able to confirm with his probation officer that he did indeed violate parole and spent a few extra days in jail. I do know his sentencing conditions are very loose.
* He can have no contact with anyone in our family.
* He has to meet with his probation officer.
* He has to abide by conditions set by his therapist (such as no contact with children, no Internet, taking a lie detector test).

We are not privy to all his conditions, which I think is wrong. To think that Patrick can't manage to go just two years without violating his parole, knowing he is being monitored, makes me extremely nervous for the day he is no longer on probation. He will be off probation in mid-August 2009. To date, Patrick hasn't shown any real signs of a transformation or of a person who is actively working to change his behaviour.