(NJ) On Monday, 22-year-old Linda Hardan, a former substitute teacher in the US, was hit with three years in prison for engaging in sex acts with students 14 to 16 years old in 2014. Now, to me, anybody who kiddy fiddles deserves to be punished. It doesn't matter if the offender is male or female. There are no ifs or buts when it comes to sexual abuse of a minor.
And yet, that is exactly what happened with Harden. Her family came to her support by pleading to the judge that she was "the foundation, the rock" of her family and that they would be devastated if she were to be sent to prison.
Harden herself claimed that the reason she drove minors to secluded spots and did the dirty on them was down to her strict Islamic upbringing, and suggested that serving time in prison would do no good, asking that she be treated by a therapist under strict supervision instead.
Err, hang on. Who exactly is the victim here? For Harden and her family, it can only be Harden. Yet they don’t stop to think about the real victims here, such the 16-year-old who was so traumatized by Hardan's actions that he dropped out of high school and has not returned. That’s a life ruined. Yes, I know we all laugh at how boys can’t be victims at the hands of older women. But they are, and, thankfully, the judge realised that and sentenced this paedophile to 3 years. However, that said, the judge did note that Hardan appeared to have a sheltered and stunted emotional development because of her strict religious upbringing. "She had classmates and friends, but somehow, perhaps because of limitations on her dating life, she didn't find the proper outlet among males of her own age," the judge said. "She did not learn how to interact with guys her age." The judge also denied a defence request that Hardan's sentence be delayed until she could finish her studies at Passaic County Community College in May.
What is it with this world where the guilty bastards are made out to only be victims?
And yet, that is exactly what happened with Harden. Her family came to her support by pleading to the judge that she was "the foundation, the rock" of her family and that they would be devastated if she were to be sent to prison.
Harden herself claimed that the reason she drove minors to secluded spots and did the dirty on them was down to her strict Islamic upbringing, and suggested that serving time in prison would do no good, asking that she be treated by a therapist under strict supervision instead.
Err, hang on. Who exactly is the victim here? For Harden and her family, it can only be Harden. Yet they don’t stop to think about the real victims here, such the 16-year-old who was so traumatized by Hardan's actions that he dropped out of high school and has not returned. That’s a life ruined. Yes, I know we all laugh at how boys can’t be victims at the hands of older women. But they are, and, thankfully, the judge realised that and sentenced this paedophile to 3 years. However, that said, the judge did note that Hardan appeared to have a sheltered and stunted emotional development because of her strict religious upbringing. "She had classmates and friends, but somehow, perhaps because of limitations on her dating life, she didn't find the proper outlet among males of her own age," the judge said. "She did not learn how to interact with guys her age." The judge also denied a defence request that Hardan's sentence be delayed until she could finish her studies at Passaic County Community College in May.
What is it with this world where the guilty bastards are made out to only be victims?
