And he didn't get the death penalty because???

I think other inmates should be given cans of soup to throw at him. Not the little Campbell's ones either, the big warehouse store size ones.

@pecan 3.14159265: I'd gladly go to my local Costco to make that donation.

@dragonfire81: He obviously did something serious enough to warrant a stiff sentence. Why waste the resources to keep him incarcerated for 100 years? Better to just get it done quick.

@dragonfire81: Perhaps because his kids didn't die?

@theblackdog: That might be a new charity near you...donate food for the needy, but before they make it to the food bank, drop it off at this guy's penitentiary. Maybe they can charge ringside seats for it. They can have this guy's kids throw the first pitch.

@dragonfire81:
because we are turning into a nation of pussies. This mans dog died when he a was a child and now he needs sympathy for the rest of his life because its not his fault hes bad.

He should be tied to a stick where we can throw rocks at his ass till he expires.

Fortunately for the little girl she was too young to remember it. As a father myself I can't comprehend how someone could intentionally do that to his own children.

A lot of you people scare me.

First of all, 100 years is not the same as a life sentence. It's possible he will get out while he is still alive. Let's not even talk about the death penalty. You want to have the death penalty for crimes other than murder? That's a bit of a slippery slope, don't you think.

Finally, the people advocating violence against this person are just as bad as he is. Really, we should throw stones at him and poison his food? I thought we had a civilized society.

@dragonfire81: Because the kids didn't die. Otherwise, he would have been charged with murder, rather than the lesser aggravated assault and cruelty to children.

@ahoy-captain: He did this to children. If anything, I appreciate that we're recognizing our own anger and sense of injustice that perhaps this man deserved something far worse than he got. He might eventually get out on good behavior, but he sure as hell will have a very hard time trying.

@Justin Linett: Rather, we've become a nation of reactive knee-jerkers. Jesus Christ. Due process. Everyone gets it.

@dragonfire81: Why reward him with death when he's going to spend the next 100 years in "pound me in the ass" prison?

@pecan 3.14159265: I smell a pay-per-view event!

@ahoy-captain: Are you saying that a civilized society would be okay with what he did? I pray that I never have to live in a society where people do not get outraged and angry when something like this happens.

@dragonfire81:

Because the death penalty, apart from being barbaric and morally repugnant, can easily be applied mistakenly. And, unlike false imprisonment, you can't right someone's death.

For example, would you apply the death penalty to someone that kidnaps, rapes, beats, then murders a 9 year old if you had rock solid evidence that it happened? Rock solid to the point that you had matching fibers to prove it (think before DNA evidence existed), and a confession?

If you said yes, you just killed this man.

How about someone actually sentenced to die for murdering a child who was, several decades later proven innocent, if that didn't work for you.

It isn't like not sentencing lifers to death is going to leave them out on the streets. They're away from you, they aren't committing more crimes. The problem is solved. Why take the risks associated with killing these people for nothing more than a monetary benefit? Seems insane to me.

@Justin Linett: +eleventy billion on everything you said.

@ahoy-captain: Really? People who, granted are just saying things out of anger, want to punish someone who commited a harmful crime to children for money or all things scare you? Lets face it, these people will calm down from the initial sting of the story and realise thats not what we should do.

As for the fact that he may be out before he dies, I am almost positive that is exactly what they wish to prevent, so thats not going to win anyone over. And I respectfully disagree with it being a slippery slope of the death penalty for things other than murder, serial rapists come to mind, but other than that I really cant think of to much else, slope ended.

And lastly I have to, really have to, disagree with anyone who says anyone has a civilized "society". Lets face it, human beings as a species can have, and will continue to have violent tendencies, and while we can have people who are civil, as long as we continue to live together there will be disagreements, some less severe than others, but in reality violence seems all but inevitable. I mean, you realise we are in a war that, possibly through no fault of our own, has cassualties of war, do you find that acceptable? Would that make you not civil if you did? I agree advocating violence is not a good thing, but it in no way makes them as bad as him, because like I said earlier, they will calm down and no longer feel this way, as apposed to this man who poisoned his own children for a prolonged amount of time.

@ahoy-captain: Any crime against a child should have capital punishment as an option.

@ahoy-captain: Not everyone is defensible. Some people are just terrible wastes who deserve getting soup cans thrown at them.

Stop talking about "civilization," because this guy clearly didn't get the memo.

@ahoy-captain: My brother, my brother... we are not scary. What the other cons will do to this scumwad once they find out will not only be scary, but very, very unpretty...

Oh, and pecan, will super-sized cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew do?

@shepd: But in this case, he did it. Definitely, definitely did it. And because his kids were merely permanently scarred and physically handicapped...means that he doesn't deserve a fate worse than they got? Obviously he didn't care whether his kids lived.

The problem is not about putting certain people away, it's making sure they NEVER, EVER, EVER go into society again, where they might be near kids, where they might be around people. Some people, there is no rehabilitation for them. You can't cure evil in some people. And the fact that this guy might have the chance to walk out in 20 years and be a free citizen, and be near people, is more disturbing than the death penalty will ever be.

@pecan 3.14159265: One thing I've always heard about prison is people who commit crimes against children are hated and targeted by everyone else. Oh and I think they'd find other places to put the soup. It is prison after all.

@PencilSharp: Sure, I think the heavy chunks of beef contribute a good weight. And it'll feed a family of eight.

@pecan 3.14159265: I rhymed!

@PencilSharp: Actually, you bring up a really good point, which is that (ironically) criminals who may kill cops, rape women, do other despicable things generally perceive crimes against children to be more terrible than anything they have done in their life, and will most likely be very, very angry with this man when he goes into the system. The point being that criminals have kids too, and despite the horrific nature of their crimes, they perceive crimes against children to be unforgivable.

@dragonfire81: Because the law doesn't allow for it.

@Raekwon: Oh yeah! Definitely. A large portion of my family works as either sheriff's deputies or in the prison system, and it's kind of generally accepted that putting offenders guilty of child-related crimes into GenPop is part of the overall punishment. It's not exactly a secret that this sort of thing happens, so it's more of a karma-based punishment. That I totally agree with, by the way.

@dragonfire81: There's plenty of readily available research showing that life sentences are less expensive than the death penalty.

@pecan 3.14159265: Which is really scary. Why is it that once a person turns 18 it's all of a sudden much more socially acceptable to commit crimes against them? If he had poisoned his 35 year old coworkers the same way, he would have got closer to 1 year in jail. Yes, children don't deserve it, but neither do unsuspecting 35 year old coworkers. Shouldn't the punishment depend on the crime and not who the crime was committed against? If not, then shouldn't people receive lesser sentences for committing crimes against convicted criminals?

There's all kinds of justice in this world, and he's going to find a new one when he gets to mingle in the general population in prison-they generally don't take to kindly to the harmers of children.

As a father of two, I say good riddance, and pray for his children.

@ahoy-captain: So it scares you more that people get angry about a man harming children, than you do when a man harms a child? Really? Your priorities are scewed.

I would be worried if people didn't get pissed off.

For all of you who want him to get the death penalty, you obviously haven't heard of the special treatment reserved for inmates of US prisons who hurt children. Now THAT's your tax dollars at work!

Here in Canada, people like Bernardo, for example, languish in solitary luxury. Boo.

@ahoy-captain: With good behavior, he should be eligible for parole in 50 years. Unless he's also a meth addict, he looks to be at least 40 to 45 in his photo. So going by statistics he is not going to get out.

As for you wondering what happened to our "civilized society," I would remind you that we've had civilization since Egyptian and Roman times, and they had no qualms about "eye-for-an-eye" justice.

@pecan 3.14159265:

So did Guy Paul Morin. I mean, they had a confession to the police and a confession to two inmates, never mind evidence a lab proved to put him at the scene of the crime.

This guy never confessed to harming his children (although he did plead guilty to making false claims). Yet everybody is more than certain he's guilty as sin. I am certain the jury made a just verdict based on the evidence presented, but I would never presume I have a perfect view of what happened, even if I were in the courtroom watching.

I bet not a single one of you would be so willing to sentence someone to death if you were the executioner. Sure, you might say you could, but I think you're being dishonest with yourself. Either that, or you're scary.

@AirIntake: Its just that people over 18 typically have some clue and are in a position to defend themselves somehow.

Little kids are pretty much hapless and clueless about what horrors something could hold.

And things dont automatically get more acceptable once you turn 18... its more like a graduated change. Doing something terrible to a 12 year old will cause more outrage than doing the same thing to a 16 year old. Which will be less than doing the same thing to a 25 year old. 18 is just a tipping point.

Interesting thing is, that once one crosses 65, it becomes more outrageous to do something terrible to them. Again, the reason being that they are getting weaker and their wits are nowhere near as sharp as they once were... that too in a world that is constantly changing.

@dragonfire81: Because 200 years of being butthurt are more just than just ending it in a few minutes.

@Lucifer_Cat: Well, no matter what age you are, if someone is poisoning your soup without your knowledge you are in no position to defend yourself.

@RogerTheAlien: It's especially great when they get wrongfully convicted! Which happens more frequently than most people imagine. There have been a number of cases where cops suspect someone of child abuse, arrest the parents, and tell the kids that the way to get daddy back is to to "confess". Tell your family they're a bunch of real American heroes!

@shepd: Barbaric? Yep. Morally repugnant.. Only if you are weak willed. I would rather have an innocent person get executed by accident than a guilty person gets away with it. Innocent person dies that's 1 person, guilty guy commits other crimes who knows how many others will lose their life or have it ruined?

As far as being the executioner? I could do it without shedding a tear. Too many people aren't willing to actually do something about crime, they talk about it and whine but no one wants to step up. I will, in fact I wanted to be in law enforcement at one point but I know myself, if I caught a guy raping someone or killing someone I would want to kill them. Hence I avoid that job.

Heck I think they should expand the death penalty to include child molestation and severe child abuse. You ruined that kids life so you forfeit yours. Harsh yep but even if it doesn't deter future crime at least that's one less criminal that will never hurt anyone again.

Question: Why are they listing 'peppers' as one of the things he poisoned the soup with. Is hot sauce legally poison now?

@grokdesigns:
+ a zillion

@youbastid: You're right; they ARE American Heroes. Thanks for pat-on-the-back. While it is unfortunate that sometimes mistakes are made, they're a vast, vast, vast minority. As for your feelings, I'm sure you're the person who hates the cops until they need them, then wonders where they are when something happens. You, good sir, are a douche.

@Nemesis_Enforcer: Maybe you'll change your mind if that 1 innocent person is someone you knew. And I'm glad you're not in law enforcement. Because what you're saying isn't "law." It's chaos.

I think it's the forcing of the kids to eat the peppers. Also, you don't know how spicy the peppers were. Don't just tell the kids to "man up" and eat the peppers.

@youbastid: Oh yeah, that was also spoken by someone who might have had to "pay a debt to society," and now hates the institution that put him/her there. And if so, then I congratulate you on your debt paid. Now stop being bitter. ¡Gracias!

@Nemesis_Enforcer:" I would rather have an innocent person get executed by accident than a guilty person gets away with it." Just as long as that innocent person isn't you, right? It's OK if it's someone else.

Please. Try saying that while they're hauling your wrongly-accused ass to the gas chamber.

@ahoy-captain: Civilized? Was it civilized for this man to poison innocent children?

Granted, two wrongs don't make a right, but I believe that once a person commits a crime beyond a certain level of severity, he/she no longer deserves to be treated with the same level of civility or respect given to a law-abiding citizen.

I don't necessarily agree with an eye for an eye, but I certainly don't believe that those who intentionally harm others should continue to have the same rights or be treated with the same level of respect (or civility) after being found guilty of heinous crimes, especially crimes against innocent kids who are completely incapable of defending themselves.

@pecan 3.14159265: That is completely not true. They may care about their own kids, but definitely not anybody else's.