Allen sentence fuels the conspiracy theorists, but they miss the plot

By Ronan Mullen

Allen sentence fuels the conspiracy theorists, but they miss the plot

1. Should Tim Allen have gone to jail? Yes, although the sentence imposed by Judge Michael Patwell 240 hours of community service in acknowledgement of a large donation to a children's charity was well within the range of options open to him under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act of 1998.

It is common enough for judges to suspend sentences, or to give convicted offenders the Probation Act, depending on the conduct of the abusers and their likelihood of re-offending. But the issue here is that justice must not only be done, it has to be seen to be done. And in Tim Allen's case, people have got the impression that if you are rich enough you can avoid incarceration. "Money talks, and yesterday it kept a child porn pervert free of even a soft suspended jail term," fumed last Friday's Star. "Allen had the wherewithal to mount a snazzy defence, pay a hefty fine and reap the benefits of employing a top PR guru."

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