Just To Prove My Point....(child abuse in the Military)

Former N.C. soldier must pay toward son's funeral Associated Press SMITHFIELD, N.C. - A former Army sergeant who served in Iraq must pay $1,000 for his son's funeral after pleading no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the boy's death. In a Johnston County courtroom Thursday, a judge ordered Jessie Ullom to pay the money to the baby's grandmother to reimburse her for the funeral of his son, Christian Norris. A violent shaking in 2002 left Christian blind. He never walked or talked before he died in December 2004 a few weeks before he turned 3. Judge William C. Gore Jr. also added a year to the two years probation that Ullom, 25, is already serving for abusing Christian. But he decided not to send Ullom to jail even though prosecutor Elisabeth Dresel argued that Ullom should get the maximum sentence of almost two years in prison. "Some people will look at your defendant as a baby killer; others will say he is the authentic American hero," Gore, a Superior Court judge from Columbus County, said to Ullom's attorney. "At this point, this far removed from the actual act ... it appears to not be in the interest of justice to put him in prison." Prosecutors and Ullom's lawyer, Jim Levinson, decided he would plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter but left the sentence to the judge. District Attorney Tom Lock sat on a courtroom bench and shook his head as the judge let Ullom go free. He partly blamed himself. "I've certainly carried a lot of guilt, because we didn't send him to prison the first time," Lock said. Christian's grandmother, Linda Norris, noted that Ullom was not sentenced to a prison term in 2004 when he was convicted of abusing Christian. She said she expected nothing different when prosecutors charged Ullom again after Christian died. "All he got was a slap on the wrist," Norris told the judge. "But him going to prison is not going to bring my baby back." Ullom, who was discharged from the Army last summer, has never admitted in court that he shook his son. In 2004 and again Thursday, Ullom pleaded no contest as part of a deal his attorney struck with a prosecutor. He told a social worker at a hospital in 2002 that he might have picked the baby up too hard and noticed Christian's head flop back and forth, a prosecutor said. Military officials have admitted that Ullom should have been kicked out after his child-abuse conviction in March 2004. Federal law and military policy ban soldiers convicted of domestic violence - including child abuse - from being sent overseas, because they can't legally carry a gun. Ullom spent much of 2004 with the 82nd Airborne in Iraq. "It's not only cost him his son, but this has cost him his career," said Levinson, who bragged before the sentencing about his client's stellar military service. He told the judge that Ullom led soldiers on home raids in Iraq and confiscated an untold number of illegal weapons. ~~~~ This whole story is appalling. The military ignored the charges of child abuse, allowed this soldier to carry a gun as he led soldiers on raids of homes in IRAQ... with the reports of child abuse as well as child sexual abuse going on over there, who could expect anything less??? If he served with the 82nd ABN, I know how they all work. And I guarantee this sodliers chain of command was fully aware of the charges against this soldier within the civilian world. Who is going to make this chain of command accountable for these decisions?? And the worst thing of all is, the judge had to actually ORDER this dirtbag to pay $1000 towards his sons funeral!!! OMG....his reality check really did bounce and I don't even need to ask!!!