Whoa! Here we go again.
(Tooele, Utah) The same judge who sentenced teacher Cameo Patch to probation for a sexual relationship with a student has now ruled in the case of teacher Leslie Baird.
As a reminder, 3rd District Judge Mark Kouris sentenced Patch to probation for sexual battery and then blamed the student. Kouris also stated that if Patch were a male, he would be "inclined to order some incarceration" and, thereby, confirmed that a double standard resides in his court.
The Leslie Baird case is somewhat similar. One week into the school year, Baird, a 42-year-old teacher's assistant at Tooele High School, was arrested for sexually abusing several students. She was charged with felony counts of forcible sodomy, forcible sex abuse and dealing harmful material to a minor and misdemeanor counts of giving alcohol to a minor. Baird ultimately pleaded guilty to a reduced count of second-degree forcible sex abuse of a student in exchange for dropping all other charges. Sentencing was scheduled for January 9.Yesterday, Judge Kouris sentenced Baird to have her head examined. That's right. Kouris ruled that Baird will undergo a 90 day psychological evaluation period with the Utah State Prison system. Afterward, she is to appear back in court for her final sentencing which I'll wager will be probation.
Consequently, it appears that female sexual molesters may want to consider relocating to Tooele, Utah. There are indications that child sexual perversions by women, female teachers even, are tolerated by the local justice system.
As an afterthought, the Utah Bar Association may want to do a quick review of Judge Kouris' rulings since he's been on the bench. Apparently, he has adopted a bias which influences his decisions regarding treatment of criminals. Such things are usually frowned on by the legal community.
[Update 04/17/07]
Baird sentenced to probation.
[Update 06/20/07]
Hold the phone. Apparently, Baird was actually sentenced to one-year in jail and then released early.
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