Montana Judge John McKeon has come under fire after he levied a 60-day prison sentence to a man convicted of incest with his 12-year-old daughter, but the judge defended his decision in a statement.
Nearly 80,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to impeach the judge after his decision to suspend all but 60 days of the man’s 30-year sentence if he meets several conditions. Part of the petition reads, “It is time to start punishing the judges who let these monsters walk our streets.”
Judge McKeon issued a statement saying he had considered several things when sentencing the man, including letters from the victim’s mother and grandmother asking him not to put the man in jail because “he has two sons that still love him and need their father in their lives,” CNN reported. A social worker and other relatives as well as the man’s employer and church also spoke out in his support.
Conditions of the man's probation include registering as a sex offender, not having unsupervised contact with minors, and completing a community-based sex offender treatment program.
McKeon pointed out in his statement that there is an exception to the mandatory 25-year sentence in cases where experts testify that treatment and rehabilitation would be better for everyone involved. Longtime sex offender treatment specialist Michael Sullivan testified the man was at a low risk for repeating his crime, CNN reported.
The petition also stated that no one had spoken up for the victim at sentencing. McKeon said they had been invited to do so, but no one came forward.
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