2yrs probation??? Are you kidding me???

This is disgusting. Simply disgusting. This judge ... is she appointed or is she a judge who is elected to her office? If she is one who elected, we need to make sure she does not get back after her term is expired.

How does one who molests a child or children get probation? Where does he live? What the hell was he doing working at a day care center?

Since he needs to register as a sex offender, let's all make sure he does that and let's all be diligent in making sure that anyone who lives around him is aware of what kind of deviate he is.

Sounds awful, but do we know details in this case. I think as registered sex offender, he is going to be punished plenty over 10 years.

The fact that this case even went to trial in the first place is proof that the system is corrupt. Thomas Cottrill was never actually alone ever with the accuser, but yet he was proven guilty. So I guess anyone can say anything against anyone and you will be guilty unless can prove your own innocence. The new way of this country is guilty until proven innocent, clearly. Now just think if some troubled child made a horrible untrue claim about your own father just to get sympathy from others, how would you feel.

Thomas Cottrill is innocent. There is no proof against him, and he was convicted of a crime he did not commit, judged by a jury of random people who have not been trained to judge cases. Due to the seriousness of the topic, people would rather say "guilty" than take a chance, of course, but the truth is, he is innocent. Thomas Cottrill is the victim here. What ever happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty? He was never alone with the accuser, and she made up the story for sympathy and attention. The girl should have to go live in a mental institution for doing this to an innocent man. Thomas Cottrill is the victim here. People need to remember, some children ARE capable of lying and committing crimes, and this girl has lied majorly and committed a crime against Thomas. There are real victims of sexual abuse out there, and it's sad that others who are not victims, such as this girl, accuse innocent people like Thomas to get attention and sympathy. I hope she gets the help she needs for her mental issue which caused her to make false accusations.

Thomas Cottrill is innocent.

This is exactly why criminals continue to commit crimes, there is no repercussion for their action, Probation is a joke, this is a shame and this judge should have never agreed to this plea bargain or sentence recommendation whatever this should never be allowed, then they wonder why we have to legislate mandatory minimum sentences. Remember her name when it comes time for her reelection to the bench, she needs to go

if you do not know the case and facts which are not all known you really should stay out of it.the truth to the whole story will come out.do you beleive that everyone that has ever been accused of something is guilty? i am sure that sometime someone in your life told something not true of you.although maybe not as serious but something.noone knows why this child had a sudden memory from 2004,but often what you perceive to be a childhood memory is not actually what it seems to be.think before you judge anyone for anything unless ther is cold hard evidence.which there was not.

by the way there was no plea bargin accepted though offered many times.he is fighting to prove his innocence,which he is! the story of the girl has not yet come out.and i will not tell it.i am hoping that she does someday before someone else does.

I know Thomas Cottrill and there is no way he would ever hurt anybody, especially not a child. He is a very gentle soul and has a heart of pure gold. He is completely innocent and is a victim of vicious lies and false accusations. If you were not in court you have no idea what the evidence and testimony was, so you shouldn't be so quick to judge. What the above posts were saying is correct- the girl has mental issues and is claiming abuse to get attention. She changed her story multiple times in court and Thomas Cottrill was never alone with the girl, ever. The jury which just heard the word "molestation" and jumped to conclusion without really taking the time to hear the presentation of evidence, or lack thereof, made a false conviction, and the judge, who could see that something was amiss with the girl's changing of the story and probably sensed that Thomas Cottrill was innocent but couldn't change the jury's decision, decided to give Thomas probation because she knew he didn't belong in jail. If you don't have all the facts, you shouldn't judge. The innocent are sometimes unfortunately convicted and punished for false crimes-especially if they have lousy legal representation.

NB meant to say "SHe will have to answer to God one day and that's all that matters", because the girl who lied is the criminal.

Also, NB said "This is exactly why criminals continue to commit crimes, there is no repercussion for their action"...and yes, NB, you are right, this is exactly why criminals like this lying girl continue to commit crimes like making false accusations against innocent people, because there is no repercussion for her actions, sadly.

No I mean your lying family member Thomas is a liar, and he will have to answer to God, Since you got my message wrong I figured I should make it clear, you family member Thomas is a liar and a bad person and HE WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO GOD, not this innocent girl HIM, 7 or 8 year old girls don't lie about being molested or to put it in terms you understand they dont lie about someone touching their vagina or whatever he did to her they don't lie about that stuff at that age. You family member is a monster I wish I could use adult words to describe him but my comment would not be added to this forum. Anyway HE WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO GOD not her she is innocent and he needs to go to hell

Innocent until proven guilty! Correct! BUT HE WAS FOUND GUILTY!!!!!! Also, it was his choice to have a judge or a jury trial!

She is not 7 or 8 years old. She is a pre-teen who constantly gets in trouble for drugs, alcohol, lies, getting in trouble at school, etc., and this is just another one of her stunts. While I realize the seriousness of child molestation and think it's disgusting, Thomas Cottrill is innocent and also thinks it's disgusting. I also realize how unhealthy it is to have an attitude that mentally unstable pre-teens wouldn't lie about something so serious. There are kids out there who kill people, such as the kid who killed his pregnant stepmom, so why wouldn't there be kids out there like this girl, who LIE to try to ruin someone's life and reputation? Kids are not always innocent, and you are blind to think otherwise. Children can be criminals just as well as adults, and this girl is a criminal. She'll cause more trouble over the years, with other people.

He was never alone with her, not even once. Her brother was always there, and most of the time so where other adults. There was never a chance for anything like her story to have happened, as she was NEVER once alone in his care.

RM - he wasn't PROVEN guilty. He was found guilty by a jury who would have said guilty no matter who was up there, because of the seriousness of the issue. There was no proof, as he was never once alone with the girl. I am an advocate of protecting children and sexual abuse victims; however, this girl is not a victim. Child and sexual abuse are disgusting, serious issues, and it is important to believe actual victims. However, Thomas Cottrill is innocent and this girl is a liar who needs help of her own kind - help for her mental issues which cause her to lie.

It is really a shame if this guy is innocent and the girl made it up. I can keep an open mind and could very well believe she did make it up. I have seen it happen before. SHE will be the one who has to answer to God if that is the case since "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor"

People desperately need to stop bringing "god" into every discussion. Please.... "god" also condoned raping women (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). Secondly, alot of people are playing the "i know him, he would never do this..." card. The BTK killer was a great family man and respected member of the community who could never possibly been able to commit 10 murders, because he was such a nice man. There's my two cents.

Who's playing what card? People are playing the "kids would never lie" card. There is a kid who killed his pregnant stepmom. So, kids are capable of evil such as murder, but not evil such as lies? This child who lied seriously needs help. Maybe one of her own family members did something to her, and she's placing the blame on an innocent man out of fear. Or, maybe she's just evil. Either way, she is lying and Thomas is innocent.

these comments should be taken off this sight now,really,there has been enough pain for everyone involved,and whatever the truth maybe noone not involved in this are only guessing,yesfor those that are so into name calling of his family can they honestly say that their entire life and their families lives been perfect,they are not even a big enough person touse real names.i will beleive in his innocence forever.icould go on and continue this but it is really time to end it all.oh how i would love to give info about trail and many other thing but that would not be proper or respectful to others.just take all of this away from this forum.thank you

I have to correct a comment I made above. I had said she is a "pre-teen" but the girl is actually around 15 years old or so, not a pre-teen, but an almost-adult-teen, totally capable of lying and doing evil, as she does. She's not some innocent victim child. She is a bad seed teenager, who has caused trouble in many people's lives before this case, and will continue to do so in the future since she's getting away with it. She got the idea from people in and around her family who have done the same thing to other men in the past (placed false accusations). She purposely causes trouble wherever she goes, so watch out, world. You may be next on her list if she decides she doesn't like you and wants to lie about you next. What kind of message are we sending to teenagers, letting them get away with such crimes? They are learning that they can get away with committing crimes simply due to their age and gender. It's a shame. Hopefully, she will get the mental help she needs before this bad seed teenager turns into a bad seed adult, which will be soon, since she's only a few years away from being an adult. While she sits back and collects money, ripping off an abused women's fund when she's not actually a victim, the message is sent to her and others that as long as you are female, you can lie and get rewarded for it, but if you are an innocent man, too bad, there's no help for you. You want to talk about sexism...that right there is sexism in society.

This Cottrill family are really sick. To publicly come out and state this bs is sickening. He was tried and convicted. This sick man should have to walk around with a sign around his neck stating "I am a child molester". This waste of air should had been executed. To bad in this country they don't do that. Please Cottrell family, GO AWAY and SHUT UP!!!!!!!

I wasn't referring to PAAR. Also, haven't any of you heard of the term "false accusations"? It's a real thing, and is what happened in this case.

CC is just naming general quotes in relation to the topic of molestation, none of which were said or claimed to have been said in this particular case. Rape and molestation are serious issues, which is why it is so horrible for someone to make false accusations against someone in cases like this, as the mentioned girl has done. I've spent my whole adult life fighting for women's rights and supporting organizations which do the same. I'm an activist. So, I don't want to hear babbling from people who know nothing about this case. He is innocent and is a victim of false accusations. It's a shame. That girl gives girls and women a bad name and takes away from true victims who really need help - victims I'd help in a heartbeat. There are women and girls out there who need support, and instead of insulting people you know nothing about on the internet here, why don't you spend your free time doing something that matters and go volunteer for an organization which helps women if you care so much about the subject? Do something that matters if you want to change the world instead of hiding behind initials online and assuming you know everything?

You know nothing about this case, cc. You know nothing about Thomas Cottrill or the accuser. The accuser is not some young, innocent child. She is being an actress, and she's almost 16, nearly an adult, who has a long string of bad behavior and lies she's told about various people. Do you mean to tell me you believe there aren't teenagers out there who lie about people to try and ruin their lives? There aren't teenagers out there who commit crimes? You mean to tell me you believe there are no cases out there of people falsely accusing other people of crimes they didn't commit? Then, you are mistaken and perhaps need to take some psychology classes to learn more about the minds of mentally unstable human beings, such as the lying teenager in this case, before you can truly help other people.

This girl got the idea from other people around her who have falsely accused people of things before, including one case where the accuser was found out to have been lying, and admitted to lying about the man. While I admire your passion for helping victims of crimes, cc, I also realize your belief that mentally unstable people would never lie about another person solely based on age and gender is a dangerous belief. If you are out there to truly help people, then please go back and re-study psychology and gain a deeper understanding of various mental diseases so you could become more qualified in your field and more able to realistically help people. Denying the fact that some mentally unstable teenagers do vicious things and lie about other people is just not realistic.

Also, quit saying the girl is 5 or 6 or 7 years old. She is almost 16.

So, the kids during the Salem Witch Trials weren't liars? The mass hysteria and deaths of innocent people caused by kids telling lies is famous. Don't try to tell me 16 year olds can't lie or make false accusations against innocent people. False accusations have happened to many adults over the course of history and still happen often today.

Oh, and by the way, look at the 16 year old scum bag boys who committed that horrible crime against a girl in the Steubenville rape case. So, you mean to tell me a 16 year old could commit such a disgusting crime as these boys did, but a 16 year old girl, only because she's female, isn't capable of committing a crime of false accusations against a man? Why do you think 16 year olds are tiny little innocent beings who can't possibly do evil? Wake up. This girl who lied about Thomas is a criminal. Scumbags like the Steubenville boys are also criminals and should be punished severely for their awful, evil, disgusting crimes, and liars like the girl in Thomas' case should learn that rape and molestation are very serious issues, and there are real victims out there, such as the girl in the Steubenville case, who really need support and help from everyone, and the Pittsburgh girl in Thomas' case needs to learn not to lie about something so serious. I hope the Pittsburgh girl doesn't make false accusations about any other innocent people, and I hope she gets help. She is evil for taking a subject such as molestation so lightly, placing false accusations on an innocent man, when there are people out there who are actually suffering, like the Steubenville girl. There should be harsh punishment for people who place false accusations on innocent people.

Lying happens:
Girl Charged With Lying About Rape

http://baldwin-whitehall.patch.com/articles/girl-charged-with-lying-about-rape-cfd3acfb

Yes she lied about the rape so her parents wouldn't find out where her sucker bites came from. A child who was touched by this monster was 5 or 6 at the time of the incident. Children suppress bad memories till they come out later and most often act out as they were made to feel ashamed of them self by the perpetrator.