Judge Arthur Tarnow wants you to know Rufus Robinson isn’t a danger to society. And he’s definitely not a pedophile. The one day Robinson served in jail is plenty; as well as the $100 fine. As for the 7,100 pornographic images of children recovered from his computer? Well, that doesn’t make him a porn addict, does it?
For the second time, Robinson was sentenced to time served along with several years of supervised probation and a small fine. He pled guilty to possessing all of that child porn, some of which contained images of “the bondage, torture, and rape of prepubescent children.” But don’t worry; if he’s caught again he’ll go to prison.
Whew! That’s a relief. It’s good to know that the next time countless children are raped, tortured, and photographed for the pleasure of sickos like this he’ll be punished!
Robinson pleaded guilty way back in 2009. It was then that Judge Tarnow sentenced him to well below the federal guideline. Defense counsel pleaded with the court for leniency, citing “initial cooperation with investigating agents, his lack of criminal history, his attendance at counseling, and his painful, debilitating back condition.” That and a report written by psychologist Dr. Dennis P. Sugrue were apparently enough to compel the judge to essentially send him off to bed without supper.
The U.S Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with the prosecution on appeal, however, vacating the sentence on February 27, 2012. They ordered Judge Tarnow to resentence Robinson using the federal guidelines. His resentence only included a few more years of supervised probation. But he will not serve another minute in jail. Will it deter Robinson? Thousands of pictures of evidence would tell any rational person otherwise.
Tarnow, a Clinton appointed judge, seems to have a real issue with child pornography laws of late. On August 14th of this year, he sentenced former school teacher Gregory Austin to 15 years in prison. His crime? Pretending to be a woman named Julie to entice young men into sending pictures of their genitals online. His ruse went so far, he convinced another young man to engage in sexual activity to meet the nonexistent Julie. There were 133 images of child porn on his computer as well as sexually explicit chats with several young men, all minors. Twelve of the images on the computer were of former students. Students he taught in elementary school.
