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In Reply to: Re: Details of SG Court Case in California posted by exer on March 27, 2004 at 12:01:16:
It's important to remember that the guy didn't win. The plaintiff in this case was awarded about $4,000 in damages.
But the bigger question is, how did he manage to get off so lightly? It was a civil case, so there was no way to punish him with a prison sentence. Civil cases are easier to win than criminal trials (remember OJ Simpson?).
It takes an incredible amount of determination on the part of the victim to pursue a case like this and face her former abuser in a courtroom. I think the girl did well to get a ruling in her favor and a cash settlement. I doubt the perpetrator has a lot of money, so $4K may have set him back a bit.
But when you consider all the abuse he reportedly heaped on the kids in this family over the years, you can see how inadequate our legal system is to address the problem. Which is why some of these guys just turn up missing or dead. The movie Mystic River, for which Sean Penn won an academy award, is about this sort of "justice."
