18 years?? Really?

[753C]

BBC News - 'Monster of Riga' Dutch paedophile jailed for 18 years

Does anyone else think this sentence is a little on the light side?
I am always surprised that child molesters seem to get less time than people charged with drug offences and other similar crimes.

 

[Polly Parrot]

They are light in terms of prison years, yes. He will, however, be kept in a psychiatric hospital after those eighteen years are up and it is highly unlikely that he will ever be allowed to leave that facility.

The Dutch prosecution office asked for a minimum of twenty years, I don't know why the judge took off two years.

 

[753C]

well at least hopefully he won't be out again. It just irritates me, because I have a close friend who is basically doing life for a drug charge here in the U.S. and he tells me all the time about child molesters, some who are repeat offenders, who come in and leave after serving pretty minimal sentences.

 

[norote]

If the punishments are light then the crime is sure to be repeated. This is what is happening in child molestation cases..