(Orange County, California) Following up on previous reports, former teacher and prominent child molester, Sarah Bench-Salorio, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to 29 counts of lewd conduct with three schoolboys.From NBC4.tv:
In pronouncing sentence, Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey said Sarah Bench-Salorio, 29, had violated the trust parents put in teachers.I contend that Bench-Salorio is being given a gift. Think of the damage she's done. Think of the victimized boys, their families, her own family, the school. Think of what would be the punishment for a man committing similar crimes.
"One thing the court cannot escape as it relates to this matter ... is it involved the violation of trust ... the defendant being a teacher in the school system," Toohey said.
The judge said parents "expect there will be appropriate conduct" when they put their children in school.
"I realize there is no excuse for what I did," Bench-Salorio said Friday.
Bench-Salorio, an English teacher, entered her guilty plea Sept. 28 and could have been sentenced to a term between three and six years. She would have faced up to 64 years in prison had she gone to trial, defense attorney Allan Stokke said.
According to evidence at a hearing, Bench-Salorio molested three boys ranging in age from 12 to 14.
We must also remember that one boy "estimated the number of times he and his teacher had sex by the condoms in a box that he went through -- 22 of them, he said -- and added that sometimes no condom was used." Bench-Salorio experienced no momentary lapse of judgment. She was engaged in the seduction and long-term, serial sexual molestation of children. The victims' parents called her a "pedophile and sexual predator." I agree.
Given all the circumstances, is six years reasonable punishment? I don't think so. Not even close. Bench-Salorio should be looking at double or triple that amount or more.
Nonetheless, her attorney, Allan Stokke is planning on wheelbarrowing a buttload of boo-hoos on the judge to get her sentence reduced. He'll say the married mother of three foster children is bipolar and suffers from depression and he will present doctor's reports and "all kinds of information" from "various people to show her absolutely excellent background."
What happens next is anyone's guess. Will the judge reduce the sentence? Maybe. It's a California judge in a California court.
Previous Posts:
01/07/05 - Teacher Charged For Having Sex With Young Boys
09/29/05 - Sarah Bench-Salorio Pleads Guilty to Sex Crimes
Companion post at The Jawa Report.
[Update 08/21/06]
Removed dead links.
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