Show No Answer to Sex Crime LAST T AST July a soldier at the army air base Francis Albert Line 27 was arrested on ona ona ona a charge of rape The charge was filed by the mother of a year old girl and the facts as reported to police were as follows The girl was left in the family car downtown downtown downtown down down- town by her stepfather She got out of the car cal to to buy a candy bar and was approached by Line who wanted her to go with him She said aid he forced her to go along At any event they finally wound up out at a roadside cafe west of the city near which the girl declared the soldier pulled her into a vacant lot knocked her herto to the ground and raped her He left and the girl telephoned her mother After the rape complaint was made by the mother detectives located Line at the air base where he reportedly had been placed in the guardhouse after he told his story to an army chaplain and declared he wanted to get married married married mar mar- ried to the girl Line was not tried on the rape charge but pled guilty to the lesser charge of carnal knowledge Judge J. J Allan Crockett sentenced Line to a term of one to five years in the state prison but suspended sentence on condition the army would take him back The army did take him back and transferred Line to Tucson Ariz shortly thereafter But the suspended sentence and the change of scenery didn't change Lines Line's character In InI I Tucson he quickly got himself into trouble again once again once more on a charge of rape But this time he didn't get off with an easy suspended suspended suspended sus sus- sentence and a plea of guilty to a lesser charge This time he was tried convicted and condemned to death So much for the story of Francis Albert Line Now lets let's consider the story of George Rex Barney 20 He was accused by a young girl r of of a rape attempt November o e 11 near ear Twenty Twenty- nty- nty first South street and Redwood road He was charged with assault with intent to rape and convicted in Judge Albert H. H Elletts Ellett court December 22 Last Saturday Judge Ellett sentenced Barney to from 1 I to 10 years in prison but suspended the sentence on condition the man enter the armed forces of the nation It would seem that our Salt Lake judges are tackling this is problem of sex crime in the wrong manner Obviously from the experience experience ence in the Line case suspending a sentence isn't the answer and certainly such a penalty will willbe be no deterrent to other rapists or would- would be rapists in the city With our present alarming alarming alarming alarm alarm- ing increase in sex crimes we need some some far more drastic action against proven sex criminals criminals criminals crimi crimi- nals than has been evidenced to date in the sentences handed down by our courts |