None of these excuses would have been offered up if this attack had occurred in the suburbs or a similarly non-black area. But crime in Milwaukee’s inner city is always "explained" away. There are always "reasons" like racism or poverty or the catch-all, lack of jobs.

The problem is that the facts never seem to coincide with the excuses. The most recent case was telling. The 40-year-old man in whose home the assault of the pre-teen girl took place, and who has been charged with participating in the attack, says he came home from his job as a butcher, had some cocaine, drank a bunch of beer and then joined the other men in the brutalization.

He was working as a butcher. That’s usually a pretty good job and one that requires a skill set and training. He also had enough money to buy his coke and his beer. So much for poverty. The victim, like the attackers, is black. So racism can’t be blamed. Nonetheless, the excuse-makers are unfazed. They’ll continue to prattle about jobs, poverty and racism every time a bunch of central city sociopaths engages in the senseless abuse of another human being.

The real reasons are less pleasant. Thousands of young Milwaukeeans are being "raised" by crack-smoking mothers with criminal records of their own. Fathers are never in the picture. There’s no religion, morality or teaching of the difference between right and wrong in their upbringing. The children become even more warped than their parents. This isn’t a result of employment status, poverty or anything other than the choice to be a rotten person.

The young people who emerge from this environment are then coddled by a lenient criminal justice system that doesn’t believe in punishment. At the very time they need someone - ANYONE - to inject notions of responsibility and accountability, they are instead enabled by a bunch of bleeding hearts. They graduate up the sadism ladder until they do things like gang rape a young girl.

Until this behavior is no longer condoned, and until dysfunctional young criminals are held accountable for their actions, cases like this will keep occurring. My prediction is that only a handful of people involved in this case will be punished and most will be merely slapped on the wrist.

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Maybe City of Pewaukee Alderman David Mokros, fresh from his impassioned defense of convicted pedophile ex-Alderman Anthony Balistreri, can offer himself up as a character witness for the Milwaukee rapists. Thankfully, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Donald Hassin Jr. ignored Mokros and the other Balistreri defenders and gave the creep a whopping 45 years in prison. Numerous other cases in neighboring counties (Washington, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine) of adults sexually abusing children have resulted in pathetically soft sentences. In this case, Hassin and Waukesha County got it right.

* * *

At least the 40-year-old guy implicated in the Milwaukee gang rape expressed regret. Balistreri remained defiant until the end. He said the teenage victims (both were in long-term arrangements with Balistreri because of family circumstances) were lying. The police didn’t buy it, nor did District Attorney Paul Bucher, Assistant District Attorney Brad Schimel, a jury, Judge Hassin or anybody else who looked at the physical evidence and the victims’ testimony.

It is apparent by his demeanor and his defiance that he has no remorse at all for what he did. Recognizing that people like Balistreri exist is critical in knowing how to deal with them. Sexual offenders usually commit their crimes over and over. A high percentage return to their behavior even after getting out of jail. Society’s only means of protecting itself is to incarcerate the offenders until they can’t offend anymore.

It is clear from Balistreri’s attitude that the only thing that will stop him from abusing more children is the physical inability to do so. Judge Hassin has made sure of that. As for Balistreri defenders like David Mokros, their repugnant condoning of the behavior of a perverted sociopath speaks to their own character. Or lack thereof.

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Here’s my hope for a little "justice." Maybe Anthony Balistreri and the sadistic brutalizers of the Milwaukee girl will end up in the same prison.

(Mark Belling is the host of a daily WISN radio talk show and a Sunday television show. His column runs Wednesdays in The Freeman.)