Joseph Presley is the latest example of how privileges are awarded to certain people who find themselves in trouble with the law. Presley, 23, was trusted by a family to babysit an 8-year-old boy.
The boy often stayed at Presley’s home in Springfield, Massachusetts. But Presley betrayed the young boy and the trust of his parents when he molested the child. The boy remained quiet and didn’t tell anyone after experiencing the initial shock of being sexually abused. One year later, Presley sexually abused the boy again. After the second incident, the boy attempted to stand up for himself and tell his parents. While trying to call his mother on the phone to let her know about the sexual abuse that he experienced, Presley took the phone from the boy, hung it up, and forced him to go to bed.
According to KSPR, Presley was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to child molestation. He could have received a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. However, Presley was saved from doing hard time. His attorney, Dee Wampler, told the judge that Presley didn’t have any prior arrests and should be commended for the work he has done in the church. Sampler also said that Presley didn’t belong in jail with hard-core criminals.
“Do we really want to take a boy that’s not institutionalized, that has not been in prison before, and put him in prison with some real sex molesters, and some real rapists,” Wampler asked Judge Calvin Holden.
Judge Holden eventually agreed with Wampler and decided to allow Presley to get away with molesting a child. Presley was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
The sentence revealed, again, how White male privilege is a major issue when it comes to criminal justice. White males are often given second chances and escape punishment when committing heinous crimes. For example, high school student David Becker raped two females at a party and recently dodged jail time because the judge wanted him to “enjoy the college experience.” Also, Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was convicted of rape and is currently out of jail after only serving three months of a six-month sentence. Those are a few examples of crimes that would have likely had different outcomes if the defendants were minorities.
Becker, Turner and Presley were all allowed to escape severe punishment because they were given more empathy than their victims. The 9-year-old boy Presley molested will likely have to undergo counseling and will always have to deal with the mental impact of being sexually abused. But due to a judge’s unwillingness to take a stand for the victim, White male privilege was, unfortunately, allowed to prevail again.
