there HAS to be a better way

this sub human (who had claimed his wife was killed in iraq) pleaded guilty to assaulting a 13 year old girl. he most likely will get PROBATION for THAT offense (he got actual time for the lie about his wife being killed in iraq). i understand not wanting the girl to testify because it will cause her pain. i really DO understand that. but to let this piece of steamin' you know what slide is just NOT right. we have to come up with a BETTER way to protect our children yet punish the guilty

Man who claimed wife died in Iraq pleads to sex assault

WATERBURY, Conn. --A 46-year-old man, already serving time for telling police that his wife had died in Iraq, has pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually abused a 13-year-old girl.
Edward Valentin had faced sexual assault charges, but under a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty Friday to risk of injury to a minor. He is expected to be sentence to probation.
Assistant State's Attorney Gail Hardy said she agreed to the deal because she believed that testifying during the trial would have been detrimental to the mental health of the girl, who is now 17.
"The victim was actually happy she doesn't have to go through the exercise of testifying," Hardy said. "But she was willing to do it if she needed to."
Valentin is currently serving an 87-day sentence for fabricating a story in 2004 that his then-wife, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Betsy Heelan, had been killed in Iraq.
Valentin received national attention in February 2004 when he claimed he received a phone call from the U.S. Department of Defense informing him that his wife had been among 101 soldiers killed in an explosion in Baghdad.
After it became clear the Army did not call him, Valentin claimed to be the victim of a cruel hoax. He later admitted he made up the story and said it was because he thought it would get his wife home.
Prosecutors said he made up the story because he was wanted to date a woman who had told him she did not want to get involved with a married man..............