‘America’s most wanted pedophile’ free after British judge questions U.S. justice

Failed bid to extradite Shawn Sullivan highlights anti-US justice attitude

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

25 Comments

America's most wanted pedophile Shawn Sullivan

Photo by Fox

Tweet

An Irish American sex offender has been spared extradition to the United States by a British judge who has no faith in the US judicial system.

“America’s most wanted pedophile” as the Daily Mail described him, Shawn Sullivan, fled to Ireland 20 years ago after being charged with raping a 14-year-old girl and molesting two boys in Minnesota.

Now 43, Sullivan was also accused of assaulting two girls in Ireland in 1997 but fled to London after receiving a suspended sentence  where police finally caught up with him in June 2010.
 
Fox News reports that although he did time in Wandsworth Prison for crimes in Britain, a British judge turned down a request from U.S. authorities to have him brought to justice on American soil.

The judge justified his decision on his belief that the U.S. policy of committing repeat child molesters to civil confinement - where they are kept off the streets even after completing prison terms - is too barbaric.

The Fox News report claims that Sullivan is a fugitive and accused pedophile and a poster child for a European judicial system that often would rather let criminals roam their streets freely than see them subjected to American justice.

Read More Irish news here

He served time in England but has escaped the charges in America after an extradition request was refused.

Lord Justice Moses of England’s High Court of Justice said in his ruling in June of last year: “Minnesota’s law is said to be more Draconian than many others.

“It is clear to me that were an order of civil commitment to be made, it would be a flagrant denial of this appellant’s rights.”

Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor who is now managing director of Kroll Advisory Solutions, told FoxNews.com that European courts are increasingly shielding criminals from U.S. penalties they consider too harsh.

Cramer said: “The European courts are starting to view U.S. courts as being so Draconian that it violates human rights.

Read more: Pedophile Shawn Sullivan spared extradition to the US on human rights grounds

Print

E-mail

Tweet