Foulk's fate

OK, I’ll take the bait.

Local gadfly Phil Klein challenged me and other media folks to speak out on the sentence proposed for Kerry Foulk.

I don’t know what else The Enterprise will be doing with this case, which is still ongoing. But this is my blog, so here goes.

Foulk is the former substitute teacher in Nederland who pleaded guilty to molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2006.

Phil is outraged because he thinks she’s getting a slap on the wrist. He’s basically right.

It’s not the lightest sentence ever handed down to a sex offender, but she clearly isn’t getting the book thrown at her.

The main problem — so far, at least — is no time behind bars. She’s getting 10 years of probation instead.

That’s not good. What’s even worse is that this is deferred adjudication probation. That means the record of this crime could be sealed if Foulk stays clean.

That kind of break should be limited to cases like a first-offender teen who gets caught shoplifting. If you read the crime stories in our paper, you will see it doled out to all kinds of people who don’t deserve it — like Foulk.

On the plus side, Foulk will have to register as a sex offender. That’s something that fellow perv Jeffrey Klem is trying to avoid. His case is even worse as it involves guilty pleas regarding three little girls.

Foulk also will have to pay for counseling for the victim and her parent. That won’t be cheap. She also will be barred from teaching in public schools.

The plea agreement must still be OK by Judge Layne Walker. I don’t think he’s been soft on crime. In fact, he was hard as nails with Millet Harrison, going to great lengths to keep him in Rusk for disemboweling his mother in 1994.

Foulk doesn't deserve any mercy. Investigators say she tried to get several other kids drunk and molest them too. Yet they also say those cases don’t rise to criminal levels.

You have to remember that the only thing that matters in court is what can be proved with witnesses, testimony, evidence, etc. Prosecutors have a solid case with the 14-year-old girl and a guilty plea. Maybe this is the best deal they could get for someone with no other offenses.

Look at what happened with the creepy polygamist cult in West Texas. The Texas Supreme Court, wall-to-wall with conservative Republicans, said the state didn’t have enough reason to take the kids from that hell-hole.

So there it is. Foulk’s sentence is tougher than some others, but it still feels light.

If Judge Walker could stick her in the can for at least a little while, a lot of people would feel better about this case. I’d be one of them.