Montpelier — After hearing from prosecutors and victim advocates opposed to mandatory minimum sentences for sex offenders, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heatedly debated whether to include them in a pending bill.

Three lawmakers, all Democrats, said imposing mandatory minimum sentences would ignore testimony from experts who said the sentences would lessen prosecutors' ability to enter into plea bargains with defendants and would force more victims, especially vulnerable children, to testify, possibly leading to more acquittals.

Senate Majority Leader John Campbell, a Quechee Democrat and former sheriff's deputy in Florida, said he is opposed to mandatory minimums and said it would be "so easy to succumb to the Bill O'Reillys," referring to the Fox News talk show host trying to get mandatory minimum sentences for sex offenders enacted around the country.

"We cannot just succumb to that public pressure when we know from these professionals that it will result in unintended consequences," said Campbell. "I'd rather get voted out of office but pass good legislation and make sure sex offenders get the punishment they deserve."

But Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Sears, a Bennington Democrat and normally a close ally of Campbell, said he was pushing for mandatory minimum sentences to respond not to O'Reilly, but to Vermonters who have "lost faith" in the criminal justice system.

"When you see folks harmed for life, and somebody walks away with short sentences, it just seems to me that that's wrong," said Sears, who is offering an amendment with four mandatory minimum terms:
• a five-year minimum for a second conviction for lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, and at least 10 years for a third offense;
• a five year minimum for a second conviction of "luring a child" for a sex offense, such as through the Internet;
• and a minimum 10-year mandatory sentence for conviction of aggravated sexual assault.

State Sen. Wendy Wilton, a Rutland Republican, sided with Sears in the committee debate, saying she has heard repeatedly from members of the public who want a tougher sentence for sex offenders.

"They need to be taken out of the public domain for a good period of time," Wilton said. "The public wants mandatory minimum sentences, and the last thing I knew, I was elected to represent the public."

The debate followed testimony from several expert witnesses who said mandatory minimums would lead to more trials — and acquittals, rather than convictions through plea bargains — and would force more reluctant victims to testify.

"We have a particular concern with a broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approach. We've all learned how very different each sex offender is," said Jennifer Poehlmann of the Center for Crime Victim Services.

She said such trials involve "putting the victim on trial and 'proving' they are a liar," potentially retraumatizing victims. Poehlmann said she knew of a 14-year-old victim who "sobbed through her whole testimony. Getting a conviction was no comfort to her."

While acknowledging that some of his fellow prosecutors support mandatory minimum sentences, Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand said they would lead to a "dehumanizing approach" that is antithetical to Vermont's philosophy of approaching each case individually and treating defendants as human beings.

"There is not a compelling need. It will change our system and it will change, to an extent, who we are," Sand said.

Sears needs four votes to get his proposal out of committee as part of a larger sex offender bill. State Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Montpelier, yesterday said she would be a "real hard sell" to tinker with judicial independence in sentencing but would keep an open mind to Sears' proposal.

State Sen. Jim Leddy, D-South Burlington, said he was persuaded by the professionals' testimony against mandatory minimums.

"I don't think we can look to the public or a poll to devise the best out come," he said. The committee is to take more testimony on the bill tomorrow and may vote on it then.

The Vermont House rejected mandatory minimum sentences in its version of the sex-offender legislation; Republican Gov. Jim Douglas has not actively campaigned for them, but has said he would sign a measure that included such sentences.