Probation sends a bad message

I wanted to comment on a recent article about a 39 year old woman who sexually assaulted a 13 year old boy and was given probation:


Probation sends bad message

Placing Jennifer Dawn Liskey on probation for crimes tied to an illegal sexual affair with a boy who was 13 when it started sent a poor message to adolescent victims of sex abuse, says a Topeka psychologist specializing in treating children.

"The message is, 'Don't tell,' " said Susan Voorhees, a doctor of clinical psychology who has treated sex abuse victims for almost 30 years. "The message is, 'You can get away with this.' "
Earlier this month, Shawnee County District Judge Jan Leuenberger placed Liskey, 39, on intensive supervised probation for three years after she pleaded no contest Jan. 23 to two counts of aggravated indecent liberties and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy. As part of the probation, she is to undergo therapy.

In placing Liskey on probation, the judge said she had an emotional disorder, lacked maturity to end the relationship, dressed and acted like an adolescent, lacked control over the victim, and couldn't say "no" to him. Evaluations of Liskey found she has issues centering on personality disorder dependent/immature and with schizoid features, the judge said.

"When (children) hear judges say you get probation (and) when they see the judges don't punish the perpetrators, it gives a very bad message for kids," Voorhees said. "It really concerns me."

Boys who are victims and their families will ask what is the point of pursuing a case against a sexual offender? Voorhees said.

Voorhees contends Liskey should have gone to prison based on Kansas sentencing guidelines. As part of a plea agreement between Liskey and the Shawnee County District Attorney's Office, she could have faced three concurrent prison terms of 55 to 61 months.

"I am very concerned about the impact of the Liskey sentencing on not only her victim but the other victims out in our community who will be reluctant to come forward, will be reluctant to admit they have participated, and may be reluctant to admit it has hurt them," Voorhees wrote in a letter to Chief Judge Nancy Parrish complaining about the sentence.

I agree with her. Many offenders have various mental health issues but that does not keep them out of prison and I seriously doubt that if this was a 39 year old "immature" male who was abusing a 13 year old girl that he would have been given probation.


Incarceration wasn't the answer for Liskey, psychologist William Albott said. Albott is one of two psychologists who testified on behalf of Liskey, urging Leuenberger to place her on probation rather than imprisoning her.

"I don't know what purpose would be served by sending her to prison," Albott said. "I can't think of anything positive to come out of her going to prison other than to satisfy a need on the part of society to punish."

Liskey's sentence is "equitable," Albott said. "She's being punished, but she's not being punished unduly."

He also thinks Liskey's punishment is fair to the victim. - Read the entire article here

A hired gun. I would like Mr. Liskey to tell me how he thinks the sentence is fair to the victim? The victim sure did not seem to think it is fair when he said:

"It sends the wrong message to teachers and to people everywhere," he said. Instead of probation, Liskey should have received three years in prison to force her to go through a treatment program for sexual offenders, he said.

"She has a way of making excuses for anything and everything," he said. Since he was 13, the youth said he has had emotional problems and hasn't genuinely felt anything other than emotional complacency.

"Today I was very upset," he said. "This was the angriest I've been in years." With the Liskey probation sentence, "I'm just kind of left hanging."

His parents also are angry.

"You can steal the innocence of a 13-year-old child," his mother said. "There is no punishment" in Wednesday's sentence. Liskey and the mother, who knew nothing of the sexual relationship, were best friends.

"How does a 13-year-old boy coerce a 34-year-old woman into kissing and groping?" the youth's father said.

When the mother earlier told the judge the impact the offenses had had on her family, she said Liskey often would go into a "poor Jennifer" mode indicating she was being victimized.

"Once again, it was 'poor Jennifer,' and the judge fell for it," the father said of the sentencing.

"This was totally a case of blaming the victim," the father said, referring to the judge's reference to Liskey as being emotionally immature and the victim being intellectually gifted, wanting her back when she tried to end the affair and becoming a "participant in the conduct." - Read the entire article here