A JUDGE THAT JUDGES
What better place than New Hampshire to finally have a judge that seems to share the same planet as the rest of us. It is no secret that the legal system in this country seems broken in so many ways. Still the best in the world, it has, nonetheless, given way to the same kind of political correctness and over-analysis that has all but crippled the way we all live. Look no further than O.J. Simpson, or the "hung jury" in the Phil Specter case to see how we have fallen victim ourselves to the "reasonable doubt" concept. Sadly, this same inability to dole out appropriate justice manifests itself most commonly in cases of child abuse, sexual and otherwise. Unless you haven't opened a newspaper for the last ten years, you also know that the explosion of child pornography available on the internet has slithered its way into every walk of life.
Raymond Stankunas, 51, was a commisioner of the Emerald Lake Village District in Hillsborough. Allegations against Stankunas surfaced in 2005 when a secretary he was dating found evidence of porn searches on a district computer. Authorities investigated, and computer forensics investigators determined that Stankunas had dowloaded volumes of child pornography. To aid you in perspective, a Gilford man was recently released by a federal judge on similar charges and it was pointed out that much of the pornography discovered in his case involved the violent rape of children all the way down to toddler-age. Try to hold that thought in mind when considering why we need to do everything possible to discourage this growing cancer in our culture. And consider the very different outcomes in similar cases across the country. Even many who continue their sexual fascination with children to the point where they act on it, are arrested, convicted and tried, still do little or no time for their crime. In Vermont, you are almost guaranteed a free pass.
So this is why, when Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire sentenced Raymond Stankunas to three to seven years on six felony counts of child pornography possesion, it was a refreshing change from what seems to be the status quo. Better still, was the statement she offered to Stankunas at his sentencing hearing. "The view that it is a victimless crime is absolutely incorrect. All the children involved are victims of a crime, and as a participant, you victimized these children." Thank you, Judge McGuire. Finally, a lucid, no-nosense response to a crime and criminal that reflects the very worst in human behavior. Thank you for setting an example for your bretheren to show some courage and pragmatism. She went on to call the images "sickening" and said the internet is expanding the opportunity for people to access child pornography. "I think it is incumbent on the courts to give harsh sentences to discourage such behavior." So do the rest of the good people of New Hampshire.
Hillsborough County Attorney Nicole Fortune was in harmony with the judge. "The defendant has for three years been creating a demand for sexual abuse and exploitation images. He is creating demand that tells others to molest children." Thank you, Ms. Fortune. If only more folks in the legal system could employ the same clarity that you and Judge McGuire have displayed, then we may actually be able to begin to get a reign on this scourge. And I am even more proud that it was a New Hampshire courtroom that provided justice, instead of a free pass and a littany of excuses for the perpetrator, leaving the victims, as they so often are, out in the cold. I am a father of four sons and a recently adopted daughter and we've never had anything worse than a broken arm in our family. We are lucky. But I am able to imagine the crushing pain and unbridled anger that must descend on any parent whose child suffers at the hands of a predator, and I thank, most sincerely, Judge McGuire for thinking of those children as well.
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