In his persistent attack, Mr. Hawley delved into the details of the Hawkins case, going over an alarming account of the sexual acts, violence and abuse that were depicted in what he claimed were more than 600 videos and images that authorities found from Mr Hawkins. Hawkins computer. However, according to court documents, Mr. Hawkins uploaded 16 images and 17 videos, the last of which was technically counted as 75 images each.
When Mr. Hawley asked Judge Jackson if the case reflected a “heinous or egregious” wrongdoing, she agreed with some annoyance that it did, but she also noted that judges consider many factors when deciding how long people should be in prison.
“Sentencing is a discretionary act of the judge, but it is not a numbers game,” she said.
The line of questioning being pursued by Mr. Hawley and other Republicans seems to have some echoes of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Many of his followers dismiss allegations that elites, including leading Democrats, are child traffickers and pedophiles as baseless.
Andrew K. McCarthy, a conservative former U.S. Attorney, defended Judge Jackson in an essay for National Review, saying that while he does not support her candidacy, Mr. Hawley appears to mistakenly confuse “sex offenders” who consume offensive images with criminals. who “prey on children” through acts of sexual violence.
The allegation that Judge Jackson showed a “disturbing trend” of being soft on “sex offenders, especially those who prey on children,” as Mr. Hawley puts it, “appears to be baseless in terms of demagogy,” Mr. McCarthy.
According to ABC News, Mr. Hawley himself voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also handed down sentences in cases involving child sexual abuse images that were lighter than recommended by federal regulations. The guidelines are advisory in nature, and as some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee noted, federal judges trying cases involving child sexual abuse images often hand down sentences that are far less harsh than the guidelines suggest.
The Hawkins case began in 2012 when Mr. Hawkins, then a high school student, began downloading pornographic images from the Internet and, according to his lawyer, felt “more confused and shocked than aroused.”