Ted Poe: “Crimes against children continue to be a crisis in our civilized communities. How society reacts to such crimes is a…”

“Crimes against children continue to be a crisis in our civilized communities. How society reacts to such crimes is a reflection on the value or lack of value it places on children. Recently, a 10-year-old girl was raped in Australia by nine males. The victim and the nine rapists were all native-born Aboriginals. The nine deviants were captured, and all nine admitted their guilt. So what did the Australian judge do to these criminals? Well, none of them went to prison. All of them received a suspended sentence, and the judge made the absurd comment at the trial that the 10-year-old girl 'probably agreed to have sex with the perpetrators.' I wonder what sentence the female judge would have imposed on the nine had the 10-year-old girl been of European descent. A prominent Aboriginal leader said he believed that 'the chronic leniency toward offenders contributes to the abuse of Aboriginal children.' Mr. Speaker, a society is judged not by the way it treats the powerful or the rich, but how it treats the weakest among its people, like 10-year-old little girls. The judge in this case is a new member of the Judges Hall of Shame. And that's just the way it is.”