Judge Thomas Wilson has just overturned the sex-crime sentence of Genarlow Wilson. The young Mr. Wilson engaged in oral sex with a 15 year old. He was 17 at the time, and is currently 21 years old. He has served 28 months of a 10 year sentence for aggravated child molestation. Upon reviewing the case, Judge Wilson dropped the charge to misdemeanor child molestation and sentenced the perpetrator to 12 months in prison including time already served, which means that Wilson is now a free man. Because of the misdemeanor status, Wilson will not even be required to register as a sex offender. Wilson’s lawyer, BJ Bernstein, applauded the decision, saying “this has been a 2 ½ year fight over consensual teenage sex”. Even Jimmy Carter has spoken out in support of Genarlow Wilson.

Geez, where do I begin? First, the fact that the phrase “misdemeanor child molestation” even exists in our legal community is obscene. Anyone who would downgrade child molestation to the level of a speeding ticket should be forced to have these misdemeanor offenders baby-sit their kids for a month. We’ll see their opinions on the matter change quickly. And if Judge Wilson has a teenage daughter, I’d like to know his opinion on allowing the offender to take her out on a few dates.

And Mr. Bernstein is whining about his fight over consensual teenage sex, which again is somewhat of a misnomer. There is no such thing as consensual sex with a 15 year old child. It’s the equivalent of recording a symphony for the deaf. A 15 year old child lacks the psychiatric maturity to consent to sex in the same manner that a grown woman lacks the ability to consent to sex if she were severely intoxicated, thus anyone who engages in sexual activity with someone like this has just committed a crime – regardless of how old the offender is at the time. Bernstein is way off on this one, but then again he is a criminal defense attorney. He makes money by being way off on matters like this.

Of course, it’s no surprise that Jimmy Carter has gone on record supporting Wilson. It is a favorite past-time of the bleeding hearts to advocate for the rights of criminals with little mention of the rights of the victim, and yes there is a victim in this case. Notice the child's parents haven't been given the oppurtunity to give their thoughts on what should happen to Wilson.

I doubt Jimmy Carter cares about the 15 year old girl, and he obviously isn’t concerned that having sex with a 15 year old is considered a misdemeanor in the state of Georgia. It seems to me that we should all be concerned about this, especially in light of cases like Kelsey Smith, the 18 year old who was abducted and murdered in Kansas. We’re going in the wrong direction here. Giving someone 12 months for child molestation is not going to deter others from committing similar crimes. Exactly what message are we trying to send? Not that Carter or Bernstein care. In their eyes, society is to blame whenever someone rapes a child, and the rapist need not be punished for something that society has done. And when Scooter Libby gets a longer prison sentence than someone who has sex with a 15 year old child, that's evidence that something is terribly wrong in this country. Talk about screwed up priorities!

I salute the prosecuting attorney. He will no doubt come under heavy fire from the criminal-rights people, but I hope he sticks to his guns. Several race organizations are already rallying against him, trying to turn this into a race issue. The simple fact is that if Wilson were white no one would give a damn about him getting 10 years for this. Seems like these days the only thing worse than putting a man in prison is putting a black or hispanic man in prison.

The simple fact is that Wilson committed a crime. Even worse, he committed a sex crime against a minor and crimes like this need to be punished. 12 months is hardly enough. If we don’t start protecting our kids, then no child is going to be safe in this country.