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Albany judge removed after using child-porn gene theory in sentencing

By "eAdvocate"

1-30-2011 New York: NEW YORK ? A federal appeals court removed an Albany judge from the resentencing of a man in a child pornography case Friday, saying he was wrong to let his theory that a gene causes child porn consumption to affect his sentencing decisions. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe erred in citing his theory as he sentenced Gary Cossey to 6½ years in prison. It also took the rare step of ordering a resentencing by another judge. The appeals court said Sharpe had rejected two separate psychological evaluations that had found Cossey was at a low-to-moderate risk to re-offend, saying the evaluations of psychologists and psychiatrists about the potential threat Cossey poses are "virtually worthless here...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Offender Issues, News, Recidivism and Studies on January 30, 2011 (boomark / email).