A serial rapist sexually assaulted and beat a little girl, fracturing her skull with a shovel in broad daylight. However, despite saying his goal is to rape others, the court has failed to deliver justice for the second time.
Kentucky resident Cane Lee Madden, 31, has been wreaking havoc on the Louisville community. He first made headlines after confessing to raping a woman and biting off a chunk of her face, which landed him in a mental institute where he continued his savage behavior by launching a series of violent and sexual attacks on staff members, WAVE reports.
“Cane stated his goal was to be placed in a community where he could kill and rape the first female he came in contact with,” said Dr. James Anderson. “(He’s) threatened to rape and kill his sisters, licking peers’ doorknobs and expressing that he wants to have sex with them. Cane can also be destructive and be abusive towards animals.”
Anderson also confirmed that Madden was “stating he wanted to grab a 3- to 6-year-old and have sex with them.”
Despite Madden promising to continue his reign of terror as soon as he was freed, Judge Annie O’Connell decided the defendant was mentally “incompetent” to stand trial. Disturbingly, Madden was released back into the community where he made good on his promise to do violence.
“Mr. Madden lacks the intellectual capacity to understand his basic Constitutional rights,” the judge concluded, adding that he was “unlikely to regain competency in the foreseeable future.”
Just 24 hours after he was released, Madden attacked an 8-year-old girl in her front yard. He confessed to hitting her in the head with a shovel and fracturing her skull before raping her, WDRB reports. The child suffered internal bruising and tearing, indicating that she had been sexually assaulted.
Although Madden has repeatedly confessed to his charges and threatened to commit further crimes, the same judge who dismissed his case the first time has once again dropped his charges in the case against his 8-year-old victim, citing his inability to stand trial for the second time. Judge Annie O’Connell dismissed charges of first-degree rape, first-degree assault, and first-degree robbery.
Madden was mandatorily institutionalized after his first rape but was released because he didn’t meet the state’s requirements for involuntary hospitalization. According to Kentucky law, individuals can only be hospitalized against their will if they are believed to benefit from psychiatric treatment. In Madden’s case, doctors don’t believe he can be helped.
“Mr. Madden is incompetent and unlikely to gain in the foreseeable future because of his intellectual deficit,” Judge Annie O’Connell said. “It’s clear from reports he’s a danger to himself and others as well.”
Madden is expected to once again be released into the community thanks to this legal “loophole.” As such, state congress members created a bill to change the standard so that dangerous criminals who are considered unfit for trial can be involuntarily hospitalized.
The community fears that they will soon see Madden on the streets. Some have warned that if Madden isn’t dealt with in the courtroom, mob justice will prevail.
“He has a revolving door when he goes to court,” said Yolanda Walker, with the California Neighborhood Leadership Council. “Whatever he does next, I just feel like (the judge has) blood on her hands.”
However, Judge O’Connell claims that her hands are tied and that because she believes he is incapable of standing trial, she cannot hold him accountable for his crimes. Instead, she blames the legal code that provides an escape clause for violent offenders.
Judge O’Connell told the court that violent criminals like Madden “can’t be hospitalized for treatment unless they’ll benefit from it, even if they’re considered a danger to society.”
As the case shows, Kentucky courts can punish criminals who are legally sane or hospitalize criminals who will benefit from psychotherapy, but there is currently no program to deal with criminals who are unaffected by hospitalization.
If Madden is released once again, he will undoubtedly re-offend. If he isn’t stopped by the broken legal system we fund to deliver justice, the people will, unfortunately, resort to vigilante justice.
