Woman Blasts Judge Who Told Her to Forgive Rapist

An Indiana woman is speaking out after a judge let her ex-husband off with no jail time even though he was convicted of repeatedly drugging her, raping her while she was unconscious, and recording the assaults. The sentence was a "sucker punch to the gut," Mandy Boardman tells the Indianapolis Star. Judge Kurt Eisgruber sentenced David Wise to eight years of home confinement on Friday—even though the six felony charges he was convicted on normally carry prison terms of of six to 20 years each. Prosecutors had asked for 40 years in prison.

Before he read the sentence, Boardman says Eisgruber told her that "I needed to forgive my attacker and move on. I got zero justice." Eisgruber has come under heavy fire since the story broke, the LA Times reveals, with a flood of negative comments appearing on his election campaign's Facebook page. "I'm curious: do you tell robbery victims that they need to forgive their assailants?" one commenter wrote. But Eisgruber is running unopposed, and there's no way he can be recalled. He says he can't discuss the case because Wise is appealing his conviction, but did say that his comments to Boardman were intended to help her heal. "When people are really struggling, I just offer that out. ... I just hope that they find peace." (More rape stories.)