Beebe to go free.

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2007/08/07/exclusive-beebe-to-go-free/

NOTHING prepared Mike and I for this lovely news yesterday. Since when do violent sex offenders get six months? For those people who believe the passage of time is a balm, yes, it is. But when the rapist contacts you all over again, the pain is fresh. I'll bet the defense knew all along and they were chuckling when Beebe was offered his "deal".

I wish I had been allowed to read my victim impact statement in court. Why on Earth couldn't I? Because, as Claude Worrell told me, Miss Quagliana wanted to "cross-examine" me about it. That's sort of mind-boggling. At a sentencing hearing, when Defendant has already pled guilty and is going off to prison, you don't get another bite of the apple. as it were. In most states, you are allowed to be heard. My husband wanted to speak on behalf of our family, but that was not allowed either. So, we remained voiceless. I understand she's doing her job, but she stooped so low in her questioning that it was astonishing. Only a rape victim who has been cross-examined can understand the special brand of dislike you may have for your rapist's Defense Counsel.

I received a letter via the Associated Press from a woman who claims Beebe attempted to rape her in 1982, when he was 17 and she was 13. She says she got off her school bus and he abducted her into a nearby park. A stranger intervened and he ran off. We forwarded the letter to Chief Longo, but she did not sign her name. It was too intelligent, well-written and organized to be random and the geographics and dates added up, given what we know about his life.

Governor Tim Kaine - set a better example in sentencing sex offenders down the line. It is painful for victims who come later. They won't want to report.