Judge's second lenient child sex sentence referred

LONDON - A British children's charity attacked a judge yesterday, claiming he was "trivialising" child abuse and making it more difficult for victims to come forward after a second sentence he imposed on a convicted child molester was referred to the Court of Appeal because of its leniency.

The child protection charity Kidscape also argued that the judiciary should be given awareness training on the effect of their post-sentence comments.

Judge Julian Hall faced criticism for imposing a three-year supervision order on a 17-year-old boy who abused a girl aged 5 and a boy of 7. Hall said he did not believe the teenager was sufficiently dangerous to be jailed.

A two-year jail sentence Hall imposed on window cleaner Keith Fenn, 25, last year for raping a 10-year-old girl was doubled by the Court of Appeal. The judge was criticised for describing the victim as "a very young woman of 10" who "liked to dress provocatively".

The judge had also previously caused controversy when he suggested another convicted molester buy his 6-year-old victim a bike.

- INDEPENDENT