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| Judge Jacqueline Hatch |
The Petition:
Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Robb Gary Evans was found guilty of sexual abuse on July 2, 2012 by a jury of his peers. The highway patrolman put his hand up the skirt of a bar patron and fondled her genitals after drinking 8 beers and driving to the bars. Upon sentencing Mr. Evans received no jail time and was not even required to register as a sex offender. He walked out of the courtroom with 2 years probation. Upon sentencing Judge Jacqueline Hatch of the Coconino County Superior Court stated to the victim, "If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened." She advised the victim to be more vigilant, “ You learned a lesson about friendship and a lesson about vulnerability.” This injustice cannot be tolerated, and without collective action of the people, these incidents will only continue.
Update: The judge has issued an apology:
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A judge who told a woman groped by a state police officer at a Flagstaff bar that she wouldn't have been violated had she not been at the establishment issued an apology Friday for any anguish she caused the victim.
Judge Jacqueline Hatch of Coconino County Superior Court said the comments she made Wednesday during a sentencing hearing were poorly communicated and she failed to uphold her responsibility to ensure that defendants and victims are treated fairly and with respect in the courtroom.
"It was never my intention to make a situation worse for any victim," she said in a statement.Here again is what she said to the victim - in the courtroom, in front of her assailant:
If you wouldn't have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you.Impossible to not see intention to hurt someone already terribly hurt.
As the second link smartly says, and ignoring how it must have personally felt to that victim:
"For Hatch to use the occasion to give the victim a lecture on risk avoidance, however well-intentioned, marginalizes the courage it took for the victim of a stigmatized crime like sex abuse to come forward," the newspaper wrote.Please sign the petition.
