According to 22-year-old
Joseph Robert Meili's lawyer, "He felt horrible about the entire incident."
The "incident" was actually a child molestation case and the victim was an 11-year-old girl. When authorities found out that Meili had met a young pre-teen girl on a dating app, took her to his house and proceeded to engage in sexual contact with her, the
originally charged him with child molestation, child kidnapping and first-degree statutory rape. But because Meile "felt horrible," the 7-year-long sentence he faced was magically disappeared by the judge.
Instead of the tough sentence, Judge Calvin R. Holden sentenced him to five years of supervised probation. The
shocking miscarriage of justice is actually par for the course for cases of child molestation in Judge Holden's court.
Holden has opted to give light sentences to serious perpetrators. In February of this year Holden give a two time rapist a 5-year probation and in 2016,
he gave an sentenced a 24-year-old convicted of sexually abusing an 8 year old girl to just 30 days behind bars and, you guessed it, 5 years probation. There is a growing trend around the country where young, white and monied sexual criminals are getting off virtually scot free for their serious crimes.
Brock Turner, for example, the co-ed convicted rapist only received a 6 months for his crimes from a CA judge. In Turner's case, voters were so enraged with the judge's sentence that they recalled him.
But Holden, who given at least three of these types of sentences still sits on the bench. That is unacceptable. Sexual assault, especially against a child is not something to take lightly. And when judges give these men a second chance they are putting other potential victims at risk.Judge Holden shouldn't sit on the bench if he cannot mete out justice for the victims of these predators. Sign the petition and demand that Judge Holden resign immediately.
