CONROE, Texas – A jury sentenced a sex offender to 99 years in prison on Wednesday, officials said.
James ____, 65, received the sentence for failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements.
Prosecutors said they presented evidence that ____was unlawfully present at the Sacred Heart Catholic School on April 26, 2019.
After reading the article and seeing the numerous convictions etc I can understand why the judge may be hard on him but 99 years? Really?
The article title is not quite worded correctly. But if the phrase “Sex Offender” was not in the title it would produce less readers..
Sounds like this dude wanted to go to prison living on the streets freezing his ass off every night eating out of trash cans defecating outside for months with out showering no medical attention hes probably happy he got 99 years he ain’t got nothing on the streets to live for let the state deal with him
Good luck
Like you, NorthEastPENN, I noted his long criminal history. But – unless I am wrong – his 99-year sentence was for violation of laws targeted solely at those previously convicted of sexual offenses. I’d call them – in layperson [non-criminal law] terms – “sex offender post-incarceration enhancements”.
If he had been someone previously convicted of murder, attempted murder, domestic terrorism, arson, gross bodily injury, DV, DUI manslaughter, gun violence, etc., none of those “enhanced” sexual-offender-only laws would have applicable.
Taking the article at face value, this guy fails to function normally in society and needs to be locked up in a controlled environment. While 99 years for FTR would ordinarily be excessive, taking everything else into account, it was probably the only legal way to ensure the safety of all involved.
Obviously this guy had runs in with the law; yet they kept releasing him throughout his life. Nobody ever thought to get this guy the help he needed to succeed in life. A person can commit one sex offense of looking at pictures and receive a long sentence. To me this article shows the complete incompetence of the criminal Justice system.
The key thing here is 99 years for a CIVIL violation. I dont know of any other civil violation that has even a small fraction of the time hes getting unless it involves someone who is registered in a similar situation. It sure is easy to tell its only a civil violation and not punishment…..
Normally, if the authorities think someone is dangerous enough, they tail that person and gather evidence. We see it on TV all the time. They might even try to catch the individual in the act. Not so here. Much simpler to charge a dummy for using his registration ID as his ID. That was his real crime since there is no allegation that he harmed anyone at the school or that he intended to do so. I think even a few years would be overkill unless the sentence included counseling or therapy to prepare him for freedom, but the 99y sentence finds that moot as well since he will never get out, so no need for that expense.
Clearly this man has some mental health issues and has never been successfully treated. I’m sure any time spent in prison will just make it worse. Outpatient treatment is a heck of a lot less expensive than incarceration. According to 2015 numbers, Texas spends around $22k per prisoner which is pretty low compared to the rest of the nation. I know here in NC, they’ve eliminated most of the mental health facilities and now most people who need help just end up in prison at a much higher cost in actual dollars and a much higher cost in terms of human capital.
The criminal justice system just sees nails because the only tool they have is a hammer. All the vicious comments just prove what a bunch of wankers Americans are. I’d bet those tunes would flip quick of the person in question was one of their own family members. Apparently compassion is more scarce than hen’s teeth!
I also agree that I don’t understand how a civil offense leads to a major felony. Think about getting life in prison because you’d five speeding tickets in one year!
Seems to me that people like this man are being set up for long sentences. They give him shorter sentences, don’t provide him with the tools to get past his issues, or at least deal with them, then when he repeatedly has problems they say he is a repeat offender and lock him away. They purposely miss label him and his current actions in ways to enflame the public so as to justify the court’s actions and make the judge a party to the prejudices rather than an impartial jurist as he should be.
This reminds me of a fellow registrant in my old group counseling session. He was not on any type of supervision at the time but was approached by Santa Clara Police because a woman with WAY to much time on her hands had recognized his face from the M site. Seems he was at a dog park with his dog that was adjacent to a child play ground and the proximity made him a target of suspicion. His offense? under age sex with his girlfriend 12 yrs earlier. He recounted that the officers said he should use another dog park that wasn’t in this type of ‘zone’.
So it seems that the all encompassing label we carry is enough that just innocently using a public space will get you hassled by public and law enforcement alike.
Sounds like the man in this article wasn’t intending to perform a mass rape, or recruit child porn subjects (sarcasm), he was looking for a little assistance. Of course I am viewing this from the cheap seats, but seems that showing an I.D. that identifies you as a registrant would be the last thing you would do if your intentions were nefarious.