The Nebraska Attorney General's office is getting hundreds of calls and email comments from people outraged over a child molester's sentence that was softened by his size.

The case is from Sidney, Nebraska where Cheyenne County District Judge Kristine Cecava gave Richard Thompson probation after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-girl. The reason for the light sentence was Thompson's size. He stands 5' 1".

The 50-year-old Thompson was convicted of having sexual contact with the girl last year.

Judge Cecava said he deserves a long prison sentence but gave him probation because she believes he's too short to survive in prison.

Check out the state patrol's high risk sex offender registry and you'll see that offenders come in all shapes and sizes. But the western Nebraska judge says Richard Thompson, 5' 1" and 100 pounds, wouldn't last long in the state penitentiary.

Omaha State Senator Ernie Chambers says the judge has made a serious mistake.

He says, "I can't think of a crime according to my scale of values that is worse than sexual offense against a child. If somebody can not go to prison for that, then short people ought to go out and rob banks, steal, embezzle and do everything else knowing that they're not going to go to prison."

Attorney General Jon Bruning says Thompson deserves prison.

He says, "It shouldn't matter whether you're seven feet tall or three feet tall. If you sexually abuse a child, you ought to serve time in jail."

Thompson's probation sentence will be appealed by the attorney general as quickly as possible.

Bruning says, "People are outraged. People recognize when a child is abused, there has to be a price to pay and that price has to be more than probation."

Parents we spoke with have some advice for the judge.

Holly McLaughlin summed it up by saying, "I think it's time for her to retire. You can't sentence someone based on their appearance. It has to be on the crime they committed and anybody who molests children needs to be gone."

A spokesman for the state's prison system says Thompson's height would not put him at risk among other inmates.