Rape Sentencing: US vs. Finland

It was the headline of the story that got my attention:

Young man gets lengthy jail term for multiple rapes

Since this was news from Finland, I was interested to know what they considered 'lengthy'.

The Helsinki District Court has convicted a 22-year-old man of several rapes he committed last summer in Helsinki. Edwin Aseda Opudo was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, for four rapes and one assault.

According to the District Court, Opudo raped four women aged between under 30 to slightly over 40 at the turn of the months of July and August 2006. The man was ordered to pay compensation to the women for mental anguish as well as pain and suffering. The largest individual sum is EUR 7,000, ordered for one woman's mental suffering. The assaulted man did not demand any compensation. - Helsingin Sanomat

That comes out to 11.25 months per rape, with the assumption that he would have received no jail time for the assault. (Lets just call that a hunch)

Less than a year for rape sounds kind of low to me, so I did a quick check and found Massachusetts Sentencing Guidelines. A person with no record/minor record can expect five years if convicted of rape in Massachusetts. And that is from a liberal state.

(Click to see the full grid.)

But wait, this is not Mr. Opudo's first rape conviction.

In October 2005 the man had been convicted of raping a woman in the Kaisaniemi Park in the previous summer. He was released on probation just a few weeks prior to the new rapes for which he was now convicted. - Helsingin Sanomat

Lenghty or not, it does not sound like he got enough time in jail for his crimes. Five rapes in total. Why was he let out of jail at all, considering that he was recommended for deportation. (He is a citizen of Kenya) No word on whether that will happen before of after serving his sentence. Whenever it does happen, that is probably the only part of the punishment that he will care about.

They sure are forgiving over there. Wonder if the victims think that the punishment was just.