When Crime Pays
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Sometimes there's something better than legal justice. Perfect justice.
A Florida man won a lump sum $2.2 million lottery payment in December. The man, who has been arrested a dozen times and served jail time for attempted sexual battery of a child under 12 is far from the poster boy of good things happening to good people. But that doesn't mean he'll win in the end.
His victims have now sued him for all winnings.
After a person is convicted of a crime, his sentence may include jail time, which is what the American justice system calls paying your debt to society. But going to jail doesn't mean actually paying your victims.
What rights to compensation do victims have?
In convictions for economic crimes, repayment is often part of the sentence. As for victims of other types of crimes, they have the right to file a lawsuit to sue for pain and suffering that the criminal inflicted. But the problem for the victim usually isn't proving they deserve to be compensated, but in trying to get money from an often broke ex-con.
So, when we hear that a child molester hit the lottery, we shouldn't cheer, but it's his victims who may get to take home the jackpot.