A judge in Northern California apparently thought the "stigma" of being a registered sex offender was punishment enough for a man convicted of drugging and raping his sister when she was 16 and he was 19. On May 17, Judge William H. Follett chose to sentence the now-20-year-old man to the lowest possible sentencing option — three years in prison — and granted him probation. Follett also sentenced him to 240 days in county jail at half time for the crimes of rape by use of drugs or intoxicating substances and incest. District Attorney Dale Trigg said the sentencing will likely mean the convicted rapist serves just 120 days in jail — and no time in prison.
Trigg told CNN that Follett, a justice in the Del Norte Superior Court, not only referenced during the proceedings the stigma the convicted rapist would face as a sex offender but also discussed the fact that the girl was not unconscious during the assault and had removed her own clothing during the assault. Trigg said those comments were "out of line" and blamed the victim.
The man was found guilty of plying his younger sister, then 16 years old, with marijuana "dabs," a concentrated form of cannabis. According to court documents, he repeatedly tried to convince her to have sex with him, before raping her when she became too "out of it" to resist.
During the sentencing, Follett said he was swayed by letters from the family of the convicted felon but insisted the 20-year-old was not "getting off scot-free." He also said he believed the man was "remorseful." However, a previous probation report warned that the rapist "showed no real remorse and seemed smug."
What sort of piece of s*** rapes anyone let alone his younger sister? How do you get to that level of depravity? I can't say. I also can't say what sort of judge looks at an incestuous rapist and thinks that the stigma is punishment enough. Reading the documents it looks like the father Matt Bruder also blamed his daughter by saying that both of his children made bad decisions. It appears that all of the Bruder men are lowlife garbage. So I don't think that there is any stigma that will attach to Nolan Bruder, at least not in his immediate family. If I were Child Protective Services I would be looking into that family. Nolan Bruder has a toddler daughter. What do you think the chances are that he rapes or molests her at some point? Maybe he already has?
I don't think child molesters and rapists change, at least not without some intense negative reinforcement. That's why we have prison. It's not like anyone normal needs to be taught that rape or sexual contact with relatives is wrong. Once you identify evil like that the only thing to do is to cut it out of society. Being raped can have life long impact on the victim. I wonder if Judge Follett would be as solicitous of a black thug who raped someone. I tend to doubt it. Race shouldn't matter here. Bruder should be starting a long stint in prison, during which he would learn the hard way that sexual consent really can't be coerced. Judge Follett failed to do his duty and protect society and the victim. He should be removed from the bench.
