WHEN a judge passes sentence, it has an impact on more than the defendant. The severity or leniency of the decision can affect everyone associated with the case, and may even send shock waves beyond. Last week was no exception. What must victims
of molestation think?A former police detective was sentenced to 20 years without the possibility of parole for drug conspiracy and corruption. A burglar also got the book thrown at him -- two long decades behind bars -- for breaking into homes all over Oahu.
And then there was Chinky Mahoe, one of Hawaii's best-known hula teachers, who pleaded no contest to molesting four students and whose "punishment" was five years' probation and 500 hours of community service.
Probation? Community service? For child molestation! What's wrong with this picture!
Nothing, according to Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe, who handed down the unfathomably lenient sentence.
Plenty, in the estimation of Mahoe's youthful victims, their families and court observers who are getting awfully tired of a judiciary that seems to care more about the rights of lawbreakers than the targets of crime.
These four male dancers, ages 9 to 14, were very brave. They came forward to say that Mahoe, 42, had molested them during sleep-overs. Imagine having to tell authorities that someone you once admired had betrayed that trust. Think of all the pressure from other students, parents and supporters rallying to Mahoe's defense.
How easy it would have been for these four kids to let this drop, to avoid the trauma of an investigation and trial. But they had been taught that those who break the law must pay the consequences. That is what keeps a society civil. Since Mahoe doesn't have to serve any time in jail, what must these boys believe now?
Two psychologists testified that Mahoe would "probably" not be a repeat offender. Huh? Mahoe already was a repeat offender; he had molested more than once. Anyway, if molesters can indeed be cured, why are there laws requiring convicted sex offenders to register their whereabouts after incarceration and rehabilitation?
When the parents of Mahoe's victims read their emotional statements at his sentencing hearing, none of them specifically asked Watanabe to impose prison time because they had all assumed it was a given.
Mahoe had pleaded no contest. He hadn't apologized to the victims or shown any remorse. Deputy Prosecutor Darrell Wong asked for a 10-year term. Even one year would have been better than nothing.
But Watanabe let the hula teacher walk.
LAST week, when a bad cop got 20 years in the slammer, it chilled and embarrassed other HPD officers. When the serial burglar blamed drugs for his crime spree, but still got hammered with a 20-year sentence, other burglars got the word.
And when Watanabe told Mahoe that he was free to go and resume his teaching career, despite not fighting the felony counts of sexual assault lodged against him, what comfort that must have been to other molesters.
As for molestation victims who have yet to press charges, here's their lesson from all of this: If you report the culprit, and cooperate with prosecutors, and even if the accused doesn't deny it, your abuser may not go to prison, especially if he is famous.
Michael Jackson. Woody Allen. And now Chinky Mahoe. Is justice blind or simply star-struck?
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.