Kentucky Judge claims 3 year old victim too racist: Gives armed robber light sentence

Claiming that a 3 year old victim was too racist, Kentucky Judge Olu Stevens gave an armed robbery and home invasion suspect a light sentence. Stevens justified the light sentence for the suspect because the judge felt the young girl was being racist for telling her mom she feared black people after the crime.

“Whenever we are running errands, if we come across a black male, she holds me tight and begs me to leave. It has affected her friendships at school and our relationships with African-American friends," the mother said in the victim statement.

Jordan and Tommy Gray's 3-year-old daughter was watching "SpongeBob" on March 21, 2013 when two armed men broke into the family's home robbed them at gunpoint.

"If holding a little girl at gunpoint gets you probation, then our system is flawed," Tommy Gray said in the victim statement.

Here is the full victim impact statement from the Grays:

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT

(Jordan Gray, mother)

Has the crime had a psychological impact on you?

My husband works nights and there are many nights I still can't sleep. Even with a security system I don't feel safe in my own home. I'm nervous about when random people walk down the street and constantly have our doors locked.

Has this crime effected the lifestyle of you or your family?

Due to the impact it has had on my 5-year-old daughter we have to consider the area in which we go. While my daughter and I used to play outside, we are hesitant to do so now by ourselves.

If you have any additional information, please feel free to attach it to this form. (i.e, recommended sentence).

This incident has had the most impact on my daughter. She is in constant fear of black men. When we are running errands, if we come across a black male, she holds me tight and begs me to leave. If (she) is playing in a room and I walk into another, she freaks out. It has affected her friendships at school and our relationship with African American friends.

(Tommy Gray, father)

Has the crime had a psychological impact on you?

For months after this crime I couldn't sleep. I would relive this incident every night before bed. I would constantly see their faces every time I closed my eyes.

Has this crime effected the lifestyle of you or your family?

Since the crime occurred my daughter is terrified of black males. Where ever we go, we are constantly reminded of her fears. She brings up the crime and can't be left alone in our own home because she is afraid someone will bust in the door."

Has this crime resulted in any damages or loss of property?

My wife's cell phone and vacation fund of about $1000.

If you have any additional information, please feel free to attach it to this form. (i.e, recommended sentence).

I don't have a recommended sentence but I feel like probation is not enough. This crime will effect my daughter for the rest of her life and Mr. Wallace deserves to serve time. If holding a little girl at gunpoint gets you probation, then our system is flawed.

But when Gregory Wallace, 27, who had pleaded guilty to robbery. was brought before Stevens for sentencing on February 4, 2015, it was the parents who were scolded by the judge, not Wallace.

“There’s a victim impact statement here that bothers me, to be honest with you. I assume the victims in this case are white?" Stevens said to the prosecutor.

“I am offended. I am deeply offended that they would be victimized by an individual and express some kind of fear of all black men.

“This little girl certainly has been victimized, and she can’t help the way she feels. My exception is more with her parents and their accepting that kind of mentality and fostering those type of stereotypes,” Stevens said.

Judge Stevens then gave Wallace a light sentence claiming that the suspect could be redeemed through probation and not prison.

Wallace and his accomplice, Marquis McAfee, 27, were arrested three weeks after the robbery, and both men pleaded guilty to the crime. McAfee was already on probation for a prior crime and received a 10 year prison term for his role in the armed robbery and home invasion of the Grays.

Stevens is a circuit court judge for the 30th Judicial Circuit, which presides over Jefferson County of Kentucky. He was appointed to the court by the Kentucky Governor on July 1, 2009, and was elected in November 2010.

Stevens was re-elected in 2014, winning an eight-year term that expires on January 1, 2023.

"I wasn't criticizing the victims, I was criticizing a statement that I thought was a generalization against an entire race of people.

"I was cautioning the parents against allowing racial stereotypes to impact their behavior and that of their child," Stevens said about his comments and decision.

Stevens also took to Facebook to further explain himself:

"Court brought it front and center this week. The case involved a burglary and the victims were a young couple and their three year-old child. The written victim impact statement on behalf of the child read that as a result of the offense committed against her parents in her presence, the child is in "constant fear of black men." The statement, written by her mother, continues that the child clings to her parent when in the presence of any black man. The incident, the mother concluded, "has even affected our relationship with our African-American friends."

"I read this statement aloud in open court. For a reason. It was of little surprise to me that neither parent nor the child was present in court for the sentencing. After all, the defendant and the judge are amongst the individuals the three year old has fear of as a result of the crime. Do three year olds form such generalized, stereotyped and racist opinions of others? I think not. Perhaps the mother had attributed her own views to her child as a manner of sanitizing them.

"Let me be clear. The statement played absolutely no role in the sentencing decision and the commonwealth disavowed the statement. Needless to say, I was deeply offended, however, that this statement was put forth for the purpose of persuading me to impose a lengthy prison sentence. Had the perpetrator been white, I doubt it would have resulted in such gross generalizations. The race of a perpetrator of a crime is not a reason or an excuse to fear an entire race of people.

"We must stand against it in whatever form. As a judge I do my work without regard to race. It is incumbent on me to confront and dispose of language based on racism and stereotypes. We should all do our part to eradicate such nonsense. And let me be clear, silence does nothing to contribute. It simply sends a message that such views are acceptable and fear somehow excuses wrong."

"Judge Stevens blamed and shamed the victims. It is very disturbing to be called something you are not," the girl's paternal grandmother, Dawn Renee Bryant said.

Ronald Rotunda, a law professor at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and the author of a widely used course book on legal ethics, said Judge Stevens violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

"The judge, acting like a pop psychologist, decides to attack the little girl and her parents.

"Then, after the judge has a chance to cool down, he goes on Facebook and does it all over again. The judge should be a little more judicious," Rotunda said.

"An observer disconnected from issues of race and racial politics might regard the victim statement as innocuous.

"For an observer sensitive to race, however, the implication that black defendants should be held accountable for traumatizing their victims because they are black is troubling," Indiana University law professor Charles Geyh said.

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