A 68-year-old man was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment on Wednesday (June 19) after pleading guilty to a charge of molestation of a girl under 14 years of age.
Can “a charge of molesting” replace “a charge of molestation of”? Can “eight months in prison” replace “eight months’ imprisonment”?
Thanks.
Yes, they convey the same meaning.
A 68-year-old man was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment on Wednesday (June 19) after pleading guilty of molesting a girl under 14 years of age. (To me, this looks better.)
Thanks, Anglophile.
Just to confirm: Should it be “pleading guilty to” or “pleading guilty of”?
When reporting on legal cases they are usually very careful with their wording. They use precise legal terms. They are also careful not to imply anything that has not been proven.
The original wording sounds correct exactly as worded. The charge would be molestation. The official charge might be the entire “molestation of a girl under 14 years of age”. If that is the official charge, then the wording should not be changed when reporting on the case.
‘Molesting’ is as action not a charge. They are not the same thing. In the legal world, pleading guilty to a charge does not mean they are actually guilty of that crime or any other crime.
To be clear, saying “He is guilty of molesting a girl” means he actually did it. Saying “He plead guilty to a charge” does not mean he really did it. The difference is important.
News reporting is usually very careful with this type of thing. The law has it’s own language and is very precise.
You seem to be annoyed by this, you seem to seek solace for this extremely dirty thing. Oh, yes doctor, you don’t wan’t people to know who you really are, because you’ve ruined a lot of lives. Some peole may commited suiside because you hide behind someone else’s identity, but your real identity is MONEY. I don’t hate…but don’t lead happy life. It doesn’t give
you the right to ruin other people’s lives and you will keep on doing so, because you want to be mysterious…it does ot impress me… so ‘she’ by Charles Aaznavour is a very nice song but, you try to …
Vuile smeerlap uit H, ik wil je niet meer zien, ruiken, horen, enz… want you 'so made to be malicious and there’s more to come, for you, the real JR who pushed things a little too f… If you can’t live with it, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to accept it, you’e not welcome here in this town, village as you made it clear I’m not welcome in thre town of H. You will never see or hear from me again? Yiou’re never be able to really love someone.
It would be so nice to see you and P. disappear from this kingdom and from… that includes my indeering cousin and so-called doctor’s son A.R.
Each has its own nuance. While agreeing with NN, I understand that ‘guilty to’ is specific and ‘guilty of’ is general.
Here, there may have been other charges or allegations, but the old man admitted only to molesting the girl! 
I can’t grasp or discern what you mean, Marc. Sorry!
Neither can I, I really don’t know who wrote this. I certainly didn’t.
Our @Torsten should be able to detect the stranger and act on their intrusion!
As someone once said: ‘Why not?’