joyfulgirl
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http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/judg02192002.htm
A 14-year-old rape victim yesterday lashed out at a lenient New Bedford Superior Court judge, calling the jurist ``an idiot'' after he sentenced her confessed assailant to probation two weeks ago.
``Now I have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life,'' said the nervous high school freshman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, at a press conference her mother arranged in the backyard of her Mansfield home.
``I'm not the only one out there afraid. Other victims are going through the same thing I am because Judge (Ernest B.) Murphy chose to free their attackers, too. Judge Murphy made me feel that I was guilty and that Dean (McSweeney) was the victim.''
Murphy has come under heavy fire by law enforcement officials for imposing light sentences on a slew of violent criminals, including Dean McSweeney, 19, who received eight years probation after confessing to twice raping the Mansfield girl in her home last summer.
Murphy, a civil attorney appointed in 2000 to the superior court bench by former Gov. Paul Cellucci, also sentenced a convicted armed robber to five years' probation after he assaulted a 72-year-old sausage vendor and stole $1,100, and a Brockton man to five years' probation after he pleaded guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery.
Murphy has also released four accused rapists without bail, pending their trial, including one man who police tracked for 18 months before finding him in Louisiana.
After McSweeney's controversial sentence, Murphy chastized the young girl for wanting a harsher sentence on her attacker.
``She can't go through life as a victim,'' Murphy told a prosecutor, according to courthouse sources. ``She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it.''
The young victim maintained her composure yesterday as she responded to his comments.
``After he knew everything that had gone on, he said that and I thought it was really disrespectful of him,'' she said. ``Dean walked out of the courtroom a free man. I will never be free. This will follow me for the rest of my life and I will always be a victim.''
When someone asked her for a word to describe Murphy, she said, ``an idiot,'' echoing earlier comments by her adopted mother.
The girl's mother, Teri Taylor, last week filed a complaint against Murphy with the Judicial Conduct Commission, seeking to oust him from the bench.
``The more I read, the more I realized this guy's an idiot and needs to get down off . . . that bench,'' Taylor said earlier in the press conference. ``I feel sorry for all the rest of the victims that are going to come into his court.''
On Friday, Judge Suzanne DelVecchio, the head of the state's superior courts, said she wouldn't remove Murphy. Instead, she wants him to attend a ``judge rookie school.''
Murphy's attorney, J. Owen Todd, didn't return a call yesterday.
The young girl, with her hair in a pony tail and wearing heavy eyeliner and jeans, said she has not been able to live a normal life since the rape.
She didn't attend the final tryout to be a varsity cheerleader, which she described as being her ``life.''
She doesn't trust anyone except her family and friends and she finds it difficult to sleep at night.
``Every time I close my eyes, I see everything that happened all over again,'' she said. ``I (used to) have nightmares about him killing me in the courtroom.''
Taylor said about four days ago, she called McSweeney's probation officer to report him for yelling profanities out of his car window while driving by her son's employer.
``He's been warned to stop,'' Taylor said. ``He got slapped again.''
***
Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted, according to RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network).
[This message has been edited by joyfulgirl (edited 02-22-2002).]
A 14-year-old rape victim yesterday lashed out at a lenient New Bedford Superior Court judge, calling the jurist ``an idiot'' after he sentenced her confessed assailant to probation two weeks ago.
``Now I have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life,'' said the nervous high school freshman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, at a press conference her mother arranged in the backyard of her Mansfield home.
``I'm not the only one out there afraid. Other victims are going through the same thing I am because Judge (Ernest B.) Murphy chose to free their attackers, too. Judge Murphy made me feel that I was guilty and that Dean (McSweeney) was the victim.''
Murphy has come under heavy fire by law enforcement officials for imposing light sentences on a slew of violent criminals, including Dean McSweeney, 19, who received eight years probation after confessing to twice raping the Mansfield girl in her home last summer.
Murphy, a civil attorney appointed in 2000 to the superior court bench by former Gov. Paul Cellucci, also sentenced a convicted armed robber to five years' probation after he assaulted a 72-year-old sausage vendor and stole $1,100, and a Brockton man to five years' probation after he pleaded guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery.
Murphy has also released four accused rapists without bail, pending their trial, including one man who police tracked for 18 months before finding him in Louisiana.
After McSweeney's controversial sentence, Murphy chastized the young girl for wanting a harsher sentence on her attacker.
``She can't go through life as a victim,'' Murphy told a prosecutor, according to courthouse sources. ``She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it.''
The young victim maintained her composure yesterday as she responded to his comments.
``After he knew everything that had gone on, he said that and I thought it was really disrespectful of him,'' she said. ``Dean walked out of the courtroom a free man. I will never be free. This will follow me for the rest of my life and I will always be a victim.''
When someone asked her for a word to describe Murphy, she said, ``an idiot,'' echoing earlier comments by her adopted mother.
The girl's mother, Teri Taylor, last week filed a complaint against Murphy with the Judicial Conduct Commission, seeking to oust him from the bench.
``The more I read, the more I realized this guy's an idiot and needs to get down off . . . that bench,'' Taylor said earlier in the press conference. ``I feel sorry for all the rest of the victims that are going to come into his court.''
On Friday, Judge Suzanne DelVecchio, the head of the state's superior courts, said she wouldn't remove Murphy. Instead, she wants him to attend a ``judge rookie school.''
Murphy's attorney, J. Owen Todd, didn't return a call yesterday.
The young girl, with her hair in a pony tail and wearing heavy eyeliner and jeans, said she has not been able to live a normal life since the rape.
She didn't attend the final tryout to be a varsity cheerleader, which she described as being her ``life.''
She doesn't trust anyone except her family and friends and she finds it difficult to sleep at night.
``Every time I close my eyes, I see everything that happened all over again,'' she said. ``I (used to) have nightmares about him killing me in the courtroom.''
Taylor said about four days ago, she called McSweeney's probation officer to report him for yelling profanities out of his car window while driving by her son's employer.
``He's been warned to stop,'' Taylor said. ``He got slapped again.''
***
Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted, according to RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network).
[This message has been edited by joyfulgirl (edited 02-22-2002).]
