Did Jerry Jordan Benford Get a Sweetheart Deal?

 

Previously: Jerry Benford Arrested

Jerry Benford was a teacher/coach...

a Baptist youth minister...

a son, husband, father...

and a cousin to Sec. of State John Merrill's wife.

Three month ago, he chose to plead to one charge against him, that of having sex with a then 17 year-old student when he was 28. Boys will be adulterers, right? Of all the girls out there to cheat with, he chose the one who would get him arrested, cost him his teaching license, and destroy his marriage (if his wife had any common sense).

While Benford hasn't yet been sentenced on the one charge, his plea deal calls for 18 months in prison, six months in community corrections, and finally probation for a set number of years. If he should violate the terms of community corrections or probation, he would return to prison to finish out a ten-year sentence.

Did we say prison? Here's the sweet part of Benford's deal: He can serve the 18 months in the Franklin County Detention Center if he wishes. We assume no one will be betting that Benford chooses an actual state prison. Upon his release, he'll be required to register as a sex offender.

Benford turned himself in three months ago, spending the holiday season behind bars. Please don't weep for him, we're out of tissues. No, despite the conviction, Jerry Jordan Benford got off incredibly easy. 

If our state legislature really wanted to pass a great law, all sex offenders would be forced to wear tee-shirts identifying themselves as such.