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     "Pretty Baby" was a troubling movie - but it was just a movie.  Unfortunately, life too often imitates art.

     Call me "old school" but I've never been under the impression that "Gee Judge, I thought she was fifteen" was much of a defense.  That's not how it works in Fond du Lac County though.

     Between September and October of 2006, then 18-year-old Brett Garcia had sex with a 12-year-old girl.  Garcia's defense was that the girl was the aggressor and that she told him that she was fifteen!  In other words, viewing this in the light most favorable to Garcia, he had sex with a 12-year-old while believing that she was fifteen.

     First, when they got naked, how could he seriously not realize that she was a young child?  Second, at best, he thought she was fifteen.  Hasn't he ever heard the term "Jailbait"?

     Garcia obviously thought this wasn't a big deal.  Apparently, at least in Fond du Lac County, he's right! 

      This week, with the blessings of both the DA's Office and the girl's mother (!), Judge Robert Wirtz put Garcia on probation for five years with a condition that he serve four months in jail with work release privileges.

     That's right - Garcia sexually assaults a 12-year-old (supposedly believing that she was 15) and he gets four months in the county jail with work release.  You have to wonder whether Judge Wirtz would have been so cavalier in his approach if this had been his daughter?  You also have to wonder what planet the girl's mother came from when she said that she was "not mad" at Garcia.

     It's true that Garcia didn't use threats or drugs to seduce the 12-year-old.  Maybe it's even true that she was the aggressor (to the extent a child of this age can be "the aggressor").  Still, she was 12 years old!  You have sex with a 12-year-old and you only get 4 months!  Is everybody in the Fond du Lac court system nuts?

     If Judge Wirtz was trying to send a message with this sentence, you have to seriously wonder what that message was?  One reasonable interpretation would be: "Fond du Lac County, where statutory rape isn't a big deal".

     I guess there are some places where "Gee Judge, I thought she was fifteen" really is a defense!    

     By the way, Judge Wirtz is up for re-election in 2011. 

     My opinion on this matter is not universally shared however.  When we discussed this on my radio show yesterday, a couple of women actually called in to support the sentence.  Guys were not as forgiving. You can listen to the podcast of that segment here (from Hour 2 of the Thursday 2/19 show).