Two convicted sex offenders got off easy after a judge gave them light sentences.Shawnee County District Court Judge Matthew Dowd let Harold Spencer and Christopher Henderson leave his court with a light sentence."I'm just outraged," said State Representative Joe Patton. "I think the community should be outraged. I'm outraged."Spencer was given probation, after pleading guilty to crimes with a 6 and 7 year-old.Henderson was convicted of repeatedly raping a 5-year-old so badly, she required multiple reconstructive surgeries.He got 13 years in jail, but the legal guidelines specifically call for at least 14 years for such a crime.And this isn't the first time Judge Dowd has given light sentences.Last year, he gave Orlando Paul Cisneros, probation after Cisneros was convicted of repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl.That girl's father, Michael Burlison, told 49 news he is "thoroughly disgusted" with Judge Dowd."Obviously he has quite an affection for sex offenders," Burlison said.So we went to Judge Dowd's house to find out why he gives such lenient sentences, but we didn't get very far. As we walked up the driveway, a woman opened the door saying they "had family in town" and that she wanted us to "leave us alone."Patton said the news of the lighter sentences was not all bad."The good news is we got something passed so this kind of stuff will stop," Patton said.In May, Representative Patton helped the Kansas legislature pass a law to stop judges from giving lighter sentences to sex offenders, but the law doesn't take affect until Tuesday."It's not a problem of that particular judge," Patton said. "It's a problem of the system allowing judges to depart from the guidelines."A system Patton says can only be fixed one way."If you're outraged you need to voice your opinion and get involved," Patton said. "When you did it last time, we had a law passed and democracy works when you get involved."The District Attorney is appealing both sentences and this is not the first time he has appealed one of Dowd's decisions.
