17 years is not long enough

Sorry to be a bummer with this post, but a news story just came out that makes me, as the father of a new baby, incredibly enraged.

Those of you who don't live in the D.C. area are probably not familiar with the terrible news story last year of a tiny baby tortured and, ultimately, killed by her mother's crack dealer.

Well, the crack dealer got 17 years in prison today. Her sentence is a joke. Caroline Deforest, the killer, is 34 years old. That means she'll be out of prison when she's merely 51 years old. And that's assuming that she serves her full sentence. Not likely, as we all know.

Caroline Deforest tortured and killed a defenseless infant. According to the washingtonpost.com article, the timeline went roughly like this:

"Soon, neighbors and friends began seeing bruises and scratches on Selena's face and arms, according to prosecutors. Deforest started isolating the infant, minimizing her contact with other people. One person saw a bite mark on Selena's arm, an apparent lighter burn on her hand and bruises on her face.

Trying to conceal the injuries from others, Deforest stopped allowing others to feed, change or dress the baby. Eventually, she draped Selena's playpen with blankets to keep others from seeing her at all.

In the early days of January, the sounds from behind the blankets started to fade.

By Jan. 12, 2004, they had stopped altogether."

Seventeen years? Wow.