What do you think? Send us your thoughts in a letter to the editor. Click here for a form and letters policy or send to letters@gainesvilletimes.com (no attached files please). Include your full name, hometown and a contact number for confirmation.
I am in the Army, and have been away from my hometown of Gainesvile for some time, but I do keep up with local events. Former deputy Michael Nix, being convicted of child molestation and only receiving 10 years' probation is a complete travesty of justice.
Ten years probation. Really? Not a moment in jail? A $3,000 fine for the innocence of a toddler? Judge (Kathlene) Gosselin really dropped the ball on this one.
There are minimum jail sentences for much more minor crimes like boating while intoxicated. But the innocence of a 3-year-old little girl, a resident of Hall County, whom Judge Gosselin is supposed to protect through administering justice, is worth only $3,000 dollars and probation?
The nature of former deputy Nix's service to the county is inconsequential in this matter and should not have been a factor in his sentencing.
The fact of the matter is that there is one more child predator loose in Hall County, one that is known, one that Judge Gosselin had in custody and turned back loose. If or when Mr. Nix decides that he wishes to molest another child, that child will be the victim of Mr. Nix and Judge Gosselin.
Frank Fortner
Fort Stewart