Former host sentenced

I was, for several years, a big fan of Jon Matthews, both when he was on KPRC and KSEV. His departure in the wake of charges of indecent exposing himself to a 11 year old neighbor came as a shock. I hoped he would fight the charge, but understood his stated reason for not doing so (a desire not to subject the girl and her family to a trial).

Yesterday he was sentenced to seven years probation, as well as the usual array of restrictions on registered sex offenders. Needless to say, his radio career is over.

What I find interesting is this bit at the end of the article.

"Those of you who have listened to my radio show and read my newspaper columns over the years know how strong a supporter I was of our criminal justice system. I can only say how misguided I was. Our criminal justice system is not based on justice; it is a quota system where conviction is the only scorecard," he said.

Matthews said he hopes one day to talk about the case.

That leaves me wondering if this was not a case of something being done unintentionally and being used by prosecutors to "get" a local gadfly. I just don't know.

But regardless, my concern is mostly with the young girl who has to live with this, and with her family. My she and they find whatever healing and closure they need.