 The background
At a story meeting in November, a Factor producer pitched a story to Bill about a Missouri judge who sentenced a child rapist to probation. "How old was the girl?" asked Bill. The producer said she was 9-years-old, and Bill shook his head unhappily. "Alright... call the court clerk and get all the documents on this case. I want all the facts nailed down. Exactly how this girl was abused, if the perp had any priors, and what the judge could have given him. Call the judge for an explanation. If he doesn't give one, we'll send Watters to Missouri to confront him."
Calls to Missouri Associate Circuit Judge Larry Meyer (R) weren't returned, but the prosecutor on the case, Robert George, did speak to The Factor. The prosecutor said the victim was the step-granddaughter of the defendant; she was from a broken home, and was a cancer survivor. Her grandmother left her alone with her step-grandfather, Kenneth Slaght, 50, in summer in 2004, and Slaght had raped and sodomized her in his bedroom. The prosecutor recommended Slaght serve fifteen years in prison and told us he was "shocked and deeply disappointed" by the light sentence.
The Lawrence County clerk's office mailed The Factor court documents: the police affidavit, the case history, etc. The details of the crime, according to police, were graphic. In October 2004, the 9-year-old victim was hospitalized for treatment and told staff that her step-grandfather performed oral sex on her once and had sexual intercourse with her on two occasions in his bedroom in Aurora, MO that summer. She said it "hurt to have sex with grandpa," that he kissed her with his tongue, and that he had told her not to tell anyone or he would go to jail.
Going to Missouri
O'Reilly sent me to Missouri on Monday, November 6 to find out why Judge Meyer gave this convicted rapist probation.
I flew into Springfield, MO, rented a car and drove an hour southwest to the judge's jurisdiction. Lawrence County is a wooded rural area full of farms and small towns, and is a popular spot for hunting and fishing, as it borders on the Ozark Mountains. The back country roads spit me into the city of Monett, population 7,400. I checked into the Days Inn, and since the next day was Election Day, I planned on confronting the judge as he left his house to vote in the morning.
The camera crew and I met at 6:00 AM and piled into the car, heading east towards the judge's home in Aurora, 15 miles away. It was still dark and there was a thick fog. After a few wrong turns, we arrived at the address, parked the car, and waited in front of a stately brick home. But there was a problem. A large dumpster filed with debris sat directly in the middle of the driveway, completely blocking the garage, so there was no way anyone could enter, exit or park. Was anyone home? Did I even have the right house?
Suddenly, a neighbor pulled out of her driveway and I approached her car. "Is Judge Meyer home? I'm waiting for an interview." I told the woman. "He only comes by once in a while. A fire hit his house this summer. But he's staying over on —— Street." I thanked her and got back in my car, called Fox News in New York, and asked our staff to check on Judge Meyer's new address. Minutes later, I received directions on my Blackberry to the judge's new address, which was only 2 miles away.
We pulled up to the new location, a more modest one-story house, and waited while the fog cleared. It was trash day, and it wasn't much longer before Judge Meyer emerged from the garage with two bags and headed for the curb. The crew and I hustled out of the car.
 "Hey judge, it's Jesse Watters with Fox News. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? Why did you give that child rapist probation?" I asked.
"I can't talk to you fellas today, sorry," He said. "The judicial code precludes me from discussing the case." He seemed to expect me to accept this answer, and he turned around, but I'd researched the state code and knew it wasn't binding.
"But the prosecutor asked for 15 years," I exclaimed.
"Well, I gave him 15 years," he answered. Judge Meyer had sentenced Slaght to 15 years, but he had suspended the sentence and ordered him to 5 years probation. I mentioned this to Meyer and he said, "Thank you," and walked back towards his garage.
"But judge, he raped and sodomized a 9-year-old girl—don't you think he deserves any punishment?!" I called out as he turned away. "People are disgusted with this sentence! What do you have to say to the victim and her family?!" I continued pounding him with questions as he ducked into his car.
"Thank you," he again said dismissively. Then he put his car in reverse and left.
Back in New York
Days later, back in New York, a senior Factor producer and I were planning our segment on the case. We discussed possible guests. The prosecutor was originally booked, but he decided to back out for personal and professional reasons. The story had not been widely reported, and it took place in a remote part of Missouri, so it was difficult to book someone for the show. However, after several unsuccessful phone calls to local radio talk show hosts, state senators and child advocates, a call to the governor panned out. Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) said he was alarmed by the light sentence, and agreed to appear on the program on November 27. Though there was a deadly arson-related fire at a Missouri nursing home that day, which the Governor had to tend to, he did make it to the studio just in time for his interview.
The Factor coverage
"This is really a great example of why we need to take discretion away from judges. In Missouri, that's what we've done," said Governor Blunt on the air. In June 2006, Missouri enacted its own version of Jessica's Law, which mandates a 30-year prison term for what Slaght did to his step-granddaughter, but it wasn't retroactive, so Judge Meyer was free to give him probation.
"What can the state do? Can they do anything? Is there any sanction you can bring?" Bill asked. Blunt explained Judge Meyer was elected, and it was up to the citizens to vote him out of office.
"This is a hardcore rape, from a 50-year-old man, a 9-year-old girl," Bill fumed. "I hope you have somebody watching this guy."
"We will," the Governor said. "The families of Missouri know he is a menace to society. They know to keep their children away from him."
The story didn't end there.
The next morning, The Factor received an email from the rape victim's mother, Deborah, who was living in the Midwest. She'd seen the segment and wanted to be on the show to speak to O'Reilly about the case—but on one condition: that she appear in silhouette and that we withhold her last name.
I called Deborah and conducted a "pre-interview" (this refers to a conversation that a producer will have with guests or potential guests that allows us to gauge their energy level, learn the details of their stories and ascertain their opinions). Deborah said she had divorced her husband, and it was then that her daughter had gone to live with her grandparents for a while. Deborah told me her daughter is 11 now, living with her cousins in Ohio, and is "emotionally broken." She said she feels incredibly guilty about what had happened to her little girl and that she's furious with Kenneth Slaght, as well as Judge Meyer.
Immediately after the pre-interview, I booked a studio in Deborah's hometown and arranged for a car service to take her there.
The mother
At the start of the interview that night, Bill asked Deborah how her daughter changed in the aftermath of the rape. "Her behavior changed, she got violent, she got angry. She would do different things for love and attention that she wouldn't do before," Deborah explained. (The parents of the Vermont girl who was raped by Mark Hulett—and given a 60-day sentence by Judge Cashman—told me the same thing about their child's reaction after being raped: that she became angry, would lash out and seek attention differently. Here's my Producer's Notebook about that case.
Bill asked Deborah, "When you heard the sentence of probation, no jail time, what was your reaction?"
"I broke down in tears," said Deborah. "I just can't believe that somebody could do something like this to a child, and let alone somebody you call your grandchild. And then just to walk away from it... I would like to have a chance to meet him face-to-face and ask him why he did what he did."
"I think the judge has got a lot of explaining to do," said Bill. "It's another inexplicable sentence. And we wish your daughter the very best, madam."
The Factor will monitor the recovery of this little girl and continue to track Judge Meyer in Missouri. We will also continue our state-by-state updates of Jessica's Law, which are available on BillOReilly.com.
Notebook Update: As promised here, The Factor continues to follow these stories. As you may know The Factor did a new segment on Vermont District Judge Edward Cashman last week, almost 9 months after our original report. In another case, the victim's mother in Alabama called me months after our segment and we spoke about how her family was doing. We stay as close to each story as possible and welcome help from Factor viewers who email Bill at oreilly@foxnews.com with any additional tips, updates, and articles.
 Jesse Watters has been a producer for The OReilly Factor since 2003. Before joining Fox News, Watters worked on political campaigns and in finance. He received a B.A. in History from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) in 2001. Watters was born and raised in Philadelphia and moved to New York in 1995.
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