Reactions from victims' advocate after Dowd's announcement
9:09 p.m. Monday, June 30, 2008
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"Yes , yes, finally yes!"
This was Claudine Dombrowski's reaction when she heard Judge Matthew Dowd won't try any more sexual assault cases.
She came to our newsroom to share with us how she's feeling.
Dowd disqualification
Statement of Chief Judge Nancy Parrish regarding Judge Dowd: "Judge Matthew Dowd has disqualified himself from hearing cases involving allegations of sexual offenses due to the appearance that his impartiality might be questioned because of the intense public reaction to some of his prior sentencings. Judge Dowd previously announced that he would be retiring on September 1, 2008." Due to the potential for appeal, Chief Judge Parrish will not be commenting beyond this statement.
For a year she's teamed up with Michael Burlison to put together a Web site for those who say they were violated twice, by a sex offender and by the system.
Burlison's 14-year-old daughter was raped repeatedly by this man, Orlando Ciscernos. Last summer, Judge Dowd gave him probation.
"The Burlison family needed this a year ago," said Dombrowski.
Judge Dowd's decision to stop hearing those cases came just hours after Dombrowski and dozens of others rallied against him.
"The community did this. We all came together and we said we don't know what to do, but we don't like this. We're going to do it again. It got a little bit bigger, and a little more vocal," said Dombrowski.
"For every action there's a reaction, there's a cause and effect. We threw a rock in the pond and it rippled," Dombrowski said.
Notice of Appeal
Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht has already filed a notice to appeal the sentence of Christopher Henderson-Brown. Read more about it here.
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