Pamela Rogers doesn?t deserve more leniency
Prosecutors are on the money in requesting Pamela Rogers serve the rest of her eight-year sentence in prison if she is in fact found guilty of violation of probation charges.
Rogers was given a chance at leniency and according to prosecutors she opted instead to blatantly violate several rules of her probation just one month after being released from jail. Such behavior should not be tolerated.
To our fine officials in the justice system, her conduct is a slap in the face. It?s as if Rogers is saying she could care less about her probation stipulations ? she?s going to do what she wants to do.
Rogers was given what could be called an extremely fair sentence when she entered a no-contest plea last year to charges of sexual battery by an authority figure and statutory rape. By order of the plea agreement, she only had to serve 198 days in jail with the rest of her eight-year sentence to be served on probation.
It was an opportunity for Rogers to overcome a major mistake and regain a regular lifestyle after forfeiting six months of her freedom. Considering there are sex offenders serving decades behind bars, the plea agreement gave Rogers a chance to return to normalcy quickly.
Her release from jail happened in a snap. The ink had barely dried on the story of Rogers being sentenced before it was time to publish the story of Rogers being released. It seemed ? at least from those of us on the outside ? she hardly served any jail time at all.
Apparently, it must have seemed that way for Rogers too. Because the jail time doesn?t look like it taught her much of a lesson.
If allegations against Rogers are true, it took her only a month before she completely disregarded two of the most vital rules of her probation. She was supposed to have no contact with the victim or his family, and she was required to stay off the Internet. The fact her victim?s sister posted comments on a Web site Rogers is charged with creating takes care of two violations at once. And prosecutors claim there are five more.
What?s most perplexing is the fact Rogers was just released Feb. 26. By March 26 she reportedly established a Web site filled with hundred of pictures of herself. Anyone who visited the site, which was taken down Wednesday afternoon, saw Rogers wearing bikinis, hugging guys and doing all types of silly things.
It was a senseless Web site and certainly not worth seven years in prison, which is what Rogers is facing at her next hearing July 12. But in determining her sentence, all of Rogers? actions must be considered.
We can?t forget she entered a plea to having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. She was granted a sentence that required very little jail time. And she could have very easily decided to turn her life around and become a productive member of society.
Instead Rogers laughed in the face of prosecutors. Based on comments from her Web site, she has no plans of staying away from her victim either.
Some lessons can be learned the easy way, and others have to be learned the hard way. For Pamela Rogers ? a sexual predator who appears obsessed with her victim ? her next lesson should involve seven years in prison.