20 Years in Prison!?

[Jackass]

BARRE, Vt.—A career criminal with a penchant for public masturbation was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison Monday, a judge telling him he'll probably never get out unless he takes advantage of mental health counseling while in custody.

 

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Edward J. Johnson, 49, of Barre, who had six prior felony convictions and is facing an attempted murder charge in an unrelated case, was convicted of fondling himself in front of women at a church soup kitchen and a library in Montpelier in 2008.

 

"I'm happy to have him off the streets," said prosecutor Thomas Kelly, calling him "a dangerous and violent man."

 

The maximum penalty for each of the two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct was five years in prison, but the jury in the case also found Johnson to be a habitual offender, opening the door to the longer sentence.

 

In reviewing his record of convictions and his behavior in jails, the state Department of Corrections and the prosecutor both found him to be without remorse -- or hope for rehabilitation.

 

Among his prior convictions: unlawful restraint, attempted sexual assault, lewd and lascivious conduct, arson, forgery and breaking and entering.

 

He is awaiting trial on kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault charges for a 2008 attack on a woman who told police he raped her, tied her up, strangled her and cut her throat.

 

Johnson made no statement when Vermont Superior Court Judge Brian Grearson asked him if he wanted to say anything. But he repeatedly made obscene hand gestures toward a TV news camera in the Barre courtroom Monday.

 

The public masturbation incidents occurred at Trinity United Methodist Church and two weeks later at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, both in Montpelier. In each, women told police they saw him fondling himself through his clothing.

 

"There was no mistaking what he was doing," one woman told police.

 

Johnson's lawyer, Daniel Maguire, said a forensic psychiatric evaluation last year found Johnson to have mental health issues, but he acknowledged that his client is competent and sane.

 

Kelly asked Grearson to impose a life sentence, but Grearson instead ordered two 20-to-life terms, to run concurrently. He noted that Johnson's victims were strangers, and that the incidents occurred in churches and a library, which he said people normally go to for sanctuary or peace of mind.

[moneymakers]

cut it off and be done with it.

[cre8tiff]

cut it off and be done with it.

 

Eye for an eye, eh? Why do you love terrorists?