Rodney Williams was charged with sexual assault of a child and like the title says, he was sentenced to three life terms in prison for sexual assault and 720 more years for possessing child pornography. The case involved a 5 year old girl. His wife found a camera with images on it of him sexually assaulting a child and more than 70 images of child pornography on his computer. Now I personally think that this is a little over kill. I mean don't get me wrong, I would put the guy in prison for life too, but 720 years, sounds a little crazy, we all know that he would probably die in like sixty years, so couldn't they just say life in prison without the chance of parole. Does the same thing.
Here's the article explaining the case.
Ya i agree, 720 years is pointless. I never really understood why people are sentenced like that. I think the only reason is to make the system look like they are punishing the offender very severly in order to look good in the public eye and also maybe act as a deterrent to other pedefials. I mean I think this guy should get life in prison also but the 720 years doesnt make a lot of sense to me either.
I also agree that 720 years is rediculous, because, to me, it makes the system look dumb and poorly educated. 720 years is such a high number and everyone knows that people can never live to be that old. It almost seems like a joke, like the system just threw out a number and that's what they went with. It would basically be like saying, "You are sentenced to a million years in prison" because it is so unrealistic. I guess I didn't realize that someone could be sentenced to three life terms and then add on more. It just doesn't make any sense. I also don't understand why he was sentenced to three life terms. How many lives is this man going to have?? I understand the severity of the crime he committed, but they should be more realistic about his sentence. Life in prison without parole. End of story.
I would really like to know the reason for a court to give a hundred some year sentencing rather than life without parole. I have been googling for about an half hour and have not found a clear answer. I asked my friend who's father is a lawyer and she believes it is all due to what is presented to the jury, like we learned while deciding the verdict for the Sandoval case. However, she could not give a definite answer. On online answer type websites I found that many people believed that it is done just to show the severity of the crime. The number is a great symbol, letting everyone know that this person will not be forgiven. Another site read that some states' 'life' is truly a number of years like 40, so to give a true life sentence the court must sentence a great number. The thought that I continue to have is that when people are sentenced years they can often get years removed from their sentencing for good work and behavior. A person could not work off 720 years per se, but the sentencing might motivate that person to be an obedient inmate. If there is a clear reason I would love to know it. For now though, these answers are satisfying.