The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Brown County(Wisconsin) Court Commissioner Lawrence Gazeley. He gets the award for the following.

A 25-year-old illegal immigrant jumped bail Friday when he failed to show up to face accusations he molested a 12-year-old girl on several occasions last year.

Paulo Sheispan-Landero remained at large late Friday, having been released from custody Tuesday after posting $5,000 bail. He was arrested and booked New Year's Eve after the girl's mother alerted authorities.

Brown County Court Commissioner Jane Sequin on Friday revoked Sheispan-Landero's bond and issued a warrant for his arrest. Sheispan-Landero faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted on the lone count of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13.

The case was the talk of the courthouse Friday after Fox News conservative talker Bill O'Reilly pounced on the case as part of his national broadcast Thursday.

O'Reilly blasted Brown County Court Commissioner Lawrence Gazeley's decision to set bail at $5,000, citing initial information from prosecutors that Sheispan-Landero had once been deported for other criminal acts and returned to the area within a week.

At the hearing Sheispan-Landero skipped Friday, Brown County Assistant District Attorney Tom Coaty said prosecutors had obtained ICE documents showing the defendant had never been deported, correcting erroneous information that originally came from the alleged victim's mother.

Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski on Friday said immigration officials confirmed that Sheispan-Landero was in the United States illegally.

O'Reilly had some of the facts wrong, but $5000 bail for child molestation is just flat out wrong. What was Gazeley thinking? I guess he is the just the latest example of our corrupt and broken judicial system. Child molestors let go while jurors and traffic violators get thrown in jail. Isn't the US legal system so wonderful?(NOT!) Tell me how is Gazeley's bail in any way defensible?

It isn't and for that, Brown County(Wisconsin) Court Commissioner Lawrence Gazeley is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

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