Skip to main content

Roger Bentley

Next week Roger Bentley will be sentenced for the murder of ten year old Jetseta Gage. The convicted sex offender will walk into a court room, facing a possible sentence of two mandatory terms.

Bentley had previously asked for a new trial, with his lawyers declaring that the evidence the jury used to convict him did not prove he had murdered the girl.

Jetseta was found stuffed into a bathroom cabinet of an abandoned mobile home in March of 2005. Bentley was also found in the mobile home. The Cedar Rapids girl had been sexually abused and died of asphyxiation, after being taped with a bag over her head.

In a court order dated Feb. 16, Grady issued a warning to those presenting victim impact statements at Bentley’s Feb. 24 sentencing .

“This court orders that any persons presenting a victim impact statement in the sentencing herein be prohibited from predicting or advocating for or threatening the assault, sexual assault, or murder of the defendant,” Grady wrote in the order. “Further, any assaultive conduct toward the defendant in the courtroom is strictly prohibited.”

He went on to say that anyone doing so would be immediately removed from the courtroom, arrested and prosecuted.


Victims impact statements have also had a raw edge to them. Emotionally filled with a mix of emotions from anger to pain to sometimes even forgiveness. Victims, and/ or their families often sit quietly by the sidelines as trial play out in front of them. Their ability to express their feelings openly has always been saved for impact statements. And I'm sorry, but ever one in a while- you just need to tell the monsters that they will burn in hell. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the need to remind them of what they can look forward to after being their new life in prison. For anyone to take away the ability to express completely human desires for this deviant predator to suffer the same torture as his victim did- is wrong.

Gage's family may not be able to tell him in open court exactly what they wish too, but no judge can stop the rest of us from openly saying that this man needs to feel the pain and anguish that he caused her. No one can stop society from loudly proclaiming that his life in prison should be filled with continuous torment by other prisoners. And no one can stop us from wishing him a speedy trip to the deepest depths of hell.
WHO TV - Des Moines: Judge orders Gage relatives to avoid threats against Bentley
Categories: ,

Comments

Anonymous said…
who does this judge think he is? Gage's family should be able to say the truth, tell the Court exactly what they think. Last time I checked, Iowa is one of the 50 States in The United States, there is such a thing as "freedom of speech"
Anonymous said…
That is so wrong. A victims family deserves to be able to say what they feel in an impact statement, especially in a case a such as this. That monster took the most precious thing possible, an innocent little child. I think the judge has seriously crossed the line with this type of order. A childs life and the family's right to see her grow up has already been taken away from them as it is - the right to legally confront Jetseta's killer shouldn't be!
Anonymous said…
I can't even begin to explain how wrong this judge is for restricting the statements. Last month,I had to write an impact statement...I was told to just explain how I really felt,how the loss of my sister has affected my life,etc. I hope none of you ever have to find out how hard that was,not to mention gutwrenching. Had I not been able to write my statement unrestrained,I wouldn't have been able to"tell the truth". I am furious...Lilo,you think this is something we should devote a few words to or not??? I will not stand for someone suffering like this to be silenced.

Popular posts from this blog

Sen. Kennedy

empirical- ADJECTIVE: Relying on or derived from observation or experiment: empirical results that supported the hypothesis. Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment: empirical laws. Guided by practical experience and not theory, especially in medicine Kennedy hate crimes rider may doom Hatch's sex offender bill By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune WASHINGTON - A fight over federal hate crimes legislation could torpedo Sen. Orrin Hatch's push to strengthen the nation's sex-offender registries and clamp down on sex crimes. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave quick, unanimous approval to Hatch's bill Thursday, clearing its way for consideration by the full Senate. But Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he plans to try to attach language to a bill that would require tougher sentences, provide federal assistance and offer grants to prosecute hate crimes - those motivated by hatred for a race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The White ...

WTW Someone Please Help Us

There's so much to work with, I'm going to just hit as much as I can. Ashely Simpson decided to pick a fight at McDonald's. Betting millions that if the employee would just go and get the manager- the manager would just love her. Simpson's climbing on the counter and irate behavior where in typical White Trash Style. Great coverage at Stereogum. Tom Cruise has decidedly canned his sister for her inability to help him keep his mouth shut. Evidently he needs a real professional as his PR person- in order to keep him in line. It's just not right firing family because you're and idiot. Kate Hudson is suing someone because of photos of her in which she looks like a starving actress. She claims the images suggest she has a eating disorder- no Kate, it's not the images, it's the you. One should not sue because they have starved themselves to the point of it being noticeable in photos. Please stop by these other great sites to read more WHITE TRASH WEDNESDAY B...

Boyfriends...

I sometimes wonder if certain men have some sort of animal DNA breed into them. The type of DNA or whatever it is that makes animals ritually preform certain actions. Like lions, when a male lion takes over a pride it'll often kill the offspring of the previous male, before mating with the female lions and creating cubs of it's own. I only wonder this, because it seems like there are an overwhelming number of men out there that end up killing the children of their girlfriends, not all of them do- but on a case by case comparison between girlfriends killing their boyfriends offspring and boyfriends doing it, it just seems that it's a lot more common amoung men. NOT THAT ALL OF THEM DO THIS... there are some great boyfriends/stepfathers out there that actually take care of kids as if they are their own... but then we have cases like Christopher Thunborg and Kashon Scott. Thunborg was babysitting his girlfriend's 11 month of baby in March when police say he caused ...