A judge in Wisconsin is facing scrutiny after sentencing a rapist to only three years after giving him “credit” for not being in prior legal trouble.
According to WGTV, on Thursday (Jun 22) Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke sentenced Alec Cook, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison student to three years in prison for sexually assaulting three female classmates and choking or stalking two others.
Prosecutors were seeking 19 years behind bars, while defense attorneys sought probation with the possibility of jail time. Despite the mounting evidence that Cook was a danger to society, Judge Ehlke opted for the three-year sentence adding eight years of extended supervision once he’s released from prison, giving Cook “credit” for having no criminal record.
But according to public records, Cook was no model citizen prior to arrest. The records show that the former student was initially charged with more than 20 crimes against more than 10 women, including misdemeanor disorderly conduct and felony sexual assault for incidents between September 2014 and October 2016.
The case wrapped in February after Cook pled guilty in February to three counts of third-degree sexual assault along with strangulation and stalking charges.
Cook was expelled from UW-Madison in June 2017.