A Delaware Superior Court judge found Robert Richards IV, heir of the wealthy du Pont family, guilty of raping his 3-year-old daughter, but did not send him to jail. Richards instead was sentenced to probation after Judge Jurden decided he would not "fare well" in prison.

Richards' 2009 case became public after his wife filed a lawsuit seeking damages. According to the suit, Richards reportedly admitted to molesting his year-old son as well as his young daughter. 

Sometimes judges will consider the mental and physical well being of defendants, weighing their circumstance with the crime, usually in situations of drug abuse and not child rape. Richards, however, is not frail or physically ill, according to court records. It seems his only 'vulnerability' is that he is a, "rich, white boy who is a wuss and a child perv," according to defense lawyer Joseph Hurley, who agreed with the judge's decision to protect Richards from the prison system, ignoring that the justice system could not protect his young daughter and toddler son from their sexually abusive father. 

"It's an extremely rare circumstance that prison serves the inmate well," Delaware public defender Brendan O'Neill told press. "Prison is to punish."

In 2007, Richards' then five-year-old daughter told her grandmother about her father's abuse. Richards was arrested after the child's mother, Tracy Richards, went to the police, and charged with two counts of second-degree rape, facing mandatory sentence of 20 years behind bars. Richards posted $60,000 in secured bail, an easy amount for the unemployed heir to an old family trust fund. 

Six months after freed on bail, prosecutors offered Richgards a plea that reduced the charges to one count of fourth-degree rape with no mandatory time. Jurden sentenced Richards to eight years probation, ordering that he have no contact with minors under 16 and attend a treatment program for sex offenders. His probation officer will visit him once a month.  

Millions of non-privileged men and women are punished in the prison system every day for non-violent crimes. More than 37 percent of federal prisoners are serving time for non-violent drug offenses. The criminal record even after they are out of jail could prevent them from securing jobs and housing (a problem that Richards will never face, thanks to his hefty trust fund).  

Richards' light sentence is gaining publicity at the same time as another child abuse case. Shanesha Taylor, a 35 year old homeless mother from Arizona, is currently in jail awaiting trial for felony child abuse after leaving her two young children in a locked car during a job interview. A fundraiser to help with her legal fees argues that she made terrible mistake in a sad situation with few options. Donors have so far contributed more than $60,000.  

Taylor was charged with two counts of fourth-degree child abuse and has so far spent more time behind bars before her trial than Richards did after his found him guilty of child rape.