In 2014, Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson handed child rapist Leo Weekes a lenient sentence which allowed him in 2015 to commit yet another disgusting act of sexual abuse.
Jackson has a history of doling out sentences much lower than prosecutors recommendations in child sex abuse cases, as was the case with Leo Weekes.
Weekes was convicted of raping his 13-year-old niece in 2010 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison as well as being required to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years. His failure to register brought him in front of Jackson in 2014 where she was told by prosecutor Ari Redbord that, “This is not a butt grab, a misdemeanor kind of case … this is not consensual sex between a 20-year-old and a 16-year-old…This is an individual who, at trial, was convicted of essentially violently raping a 13-year-old child,” and should receive a two-year sentence.
Yet Jackson was lenient with Weekes giving him only 12 months with credit for time served. In 2015 Weekes was arrested again for allegedly plying his sister-in-law with liquor while she was babysitting for his wife. He then allegedly started touching her, trying three separate times to pull her leggings down, the report from the DC police report stated.
The report detailed that Weekes continued in his assault which led to his sister-in-law punching him in the head stopping the attack.
A Republican Judiciary Committee aide believed “Had the judge imposed the sentence recommended by the government, this child rapist would have been behind bars when he sexually assaulted another family member. Judge Jackson’s personal policy preferences steered her judgement.”
During Jackson’s confirmation hearing seven cases were provided by the Biden administration to the Judiciary Committee giving examples of Jackson sentencing sex offenders to terms far below what prosecutors had requested.
This week the Senate advanced Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination and she is expected to be confirmed this week.