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Utah judge calls rapist an "extraordinarily good man" at rape sentencing hearing

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B

Biske

Member
I just cant... when you think you couldn't be more ashamed of your state... a Judge comes around and doubles down on it all.


Utah judge calls ex-Mormon bishop an "extraordinarily good man" at rape sentencing hearing

This has the audio of it. For sure says "extraordinarily good man" Judge compliments former LDS Bishop convicted of rape during sentencing


A Utah judge is facing a deluge of complaints after calling a former Mormon bishop convicted of rape an "extraordinarily good man" who did something wrong, a judicial oversight organization said Friday.

The criticism began around the time Judge Thomas Low let Keith Robert Vallejo out of custody after a jury found him guilty of 10 counts of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape, said Jennifer Yim, executive director of the Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission.
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Julia Kirby, 23, one of Vallejo's victims, said she was shocked by the judge's sympathy.

"That judge didn't care about me," she said Friday. "He only cared about the person he was convicting, and I think that is really kind of despicable."
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I just cant imagine what its like as a victim to hear that from a judge.



Edit: Here it is. This guy. This fucking guy:


http://www.sltrib.com/home/5170759-155/once-free-despite-his-sex-assault


Fourth District Judge Thomas Low took long pauses and became choked up as he announced his decision to order a prison term for Keith Robert Vallejo, whom a jury convicted of 10 counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape, a first-degree felony. Two women testified at the trial that he had inappropriately touched them during separate stays at his Provo home in 2013 and 2014.


"The court has no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinary, good man. But great men," the judge said Wednesday before taking a long pause, "sometimes do bad things."

And as he handed down sentences of one-to-15 years in prison for the second-degree felonies and a five-years-to-life term for the object rape, Low again took a pause to compose himself before ordering the terms to run concurrent to one another.
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Another Edit, Turns out this story is just the latest development in this Judges illustrious career on this case:

‘No one is really saying he's guilty,' says victim after ex-Mormon bishop allowed to go free following sex crime convictions

Moments after a jury found him guilty of nearly a dozen sex abuse-related crimes, Keith Robert Vallejo walked out of the Provo courthouse last month a free man.

Despite requests from a prosecutor to have him jailed until his April sentencing date, a Utah County judge instead allowed the former Mormon bishop to remain free on bail, and to go home to his wife and eight children.
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Fourth District Judge Thomas Low found that because Vallejo had posted a cash bail, has a large family and works in the community, he would not be a risk. The judge also ruled there would be "minimal damage" to the victims because they live out of state.

"It is clear that [the victims] have been heard and have been believed," the judge said, according to a recording of the hearing. "And if that's the closure they're seeking, that's closure. Watching a man being taken away in chains isn't the kind of closure the court is willing to endorse at this time."

Kirby said she found the judge's remarks offensive, and added that she felt Low was "thinking more about the guilty defendant and his family sitting in the stands."
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S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Um, if you're a multiple rapist, even like, a regular once-rapist, and if you are a bishop, it's actually worse. Like, the opposite of an "extraordinarily good man."
 
S

SchrodingerC

Member
Of course, of fucking course.

Rape victims continue to be mistreated by the justice system and those who run it. Justice is blind my goddamn ass.
 
Rest

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
I understand the idea of a good person making a mistake that their entire life shouldn't be judged for, but he raped multiple people. Multiple.
 
B

Biske

Member
I cant find it in any of the stories about this, but on the local news here they were playing clips and at one point as the judge is praising this man, the judge starts to break down, holding back tears, in his praise.

Absolutely disgusting.

And people wonder why more people don't report rape. Or they doubt rape culture is real.
 
M

MKIL65

Member
Isn't this the second time a judge has defended rape?

The other time was the one that asked the victim ''Why couldn't you keep your knees together?''
 
O

old manatee

Banned
You guys just don't get it. He's a world-class rapist. He's like the Bill Cosby of rape. This motherfucker could rape a grizzly bear.
 
Soltype

Soltype

Member
"And if that's the closure they're seeking, that's closure. Watching a man being taken away in chains isn't the kind of closure the court is willing to endorse at this time."
Click to expand...

I thought that was the point of bringing him to justice, he's acting like this guy is his son.The judge must know him on some level to react this way to his supposed fall from grace.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
He's a motherfucking rapist. Any claim made that he's a "good man" is immediately fucking invalidated. How the fuck is this not obvious?
 
S

Steeped in a Sea of Games

Member
Maybe the two of them went fondling together and he's broken up that now he has to do it alone (Well, until he gets out in 5 years).

Honestly, I don't see how this doesn't get you immediately dismissed from the bench.
 
S

ShironRedshift

Member
OG Shaka Zulu said:
I haven't heard a good thing about Utah my whole life. Fuck this judge.
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It has some fuckin' rad national parks. Bryce, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands.

But yeah, sorry if you rape someone, you're not a good person. That's not how anything works. But yet, rape culture tooooooootally isn't a thing. *Sigh.*
 
R

radios shipping overview

Member
There's that good ol' boy network at work. In Utah, as long as you're male and active in the church, you're golden. And people don't like to believe the victim.

It sounds like the church gave him the sack as a bishop due to the allegations, but I can't find anything about him having been excommunicated.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
The impression I get from friends that live there is that Utah's judicial system and the Church aren't really separated at all and they make no attempt to hide it

Utah is pretty much a captured theocratic country we turned into a state
 
R

radios shipping overview

Member
FyreWulff said:
The impression I get from friends that live there is that Utah's judicial system and the Church aren't really separated at all and they make no attempt to hide it

Utah is pretty much a captured theocratic country we turned into a state
Click to expand...

Judicial, legislative, executive, business, and church. All unto the Lord (and the almighty dollar).
 
B

Biske

Member
FyreWulff said:
The impression I get from friends that live there is that Utah's judicial system and the Church aren't really separated at all and they make no attempt to hide it

Utah is pretty much a captured theocratic country we turned into a state
Click to expand...

They also have politics pretty much on lock down. If you are trying to get something done that the church isn't a fan of, good luck with that.
 
alife

alife

Member
All teary eyed and choked up about the fate of a rapist, Judge Thomas Low?

0xh1Cfr.gif
 
G

gnomed

Member
The more I hear about these religious enclaves in the US the more I think these folks really do want some holy war, medieval patriarchy in place. That's some backwards ass mentality.
 
L

Lupin the Third

Member
The quote in the title in OP and article seem to be "an extraordinarily good man" but the actual direct quote says "an extraordinary, good man". Close but not the same.

Still a very disappointing report.
 
K

Kittygirl

Member
From the second link: Julia Kirby — who was 19 when Vallejo, her brother-in-law, abused her...


Yeah, such a good family man. Bet that made his wife happy. /s
 
T

tuxfool

Banned
Kittygirl said:
From the second link: Julia Kirby — who was 19 when Vallejo, her brother-in-law, abused her...


Yeah, such a good family man. Bet that made his wife happy. /s
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Knowing nothing else and given that went home for a while, I'd speculate that she took his side.
 
B

Buckle

Member
Absolutely disgusting.

There is definitely something seriously fucking off about him if he's up there almost getting weepy eyed over a repeat rapist bishop. Possible religious nut?
 
F

Forearms

Member
Lupin the Third said:
The quote in the title in OP and article seem to be "an extraordinarily good man" but the actual direct quote says "an extraordinary, good man". Close but not the same.

Still a very disappointing report.
Click to expand...

Disappointed? You should be disgusted.

I suppose he was an extraordinary bishop, in that he clearly used his position of trust to assault women. What a great guy! /s
 
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