Judge Cashman, a Vietnam veteran and Catholic of Irish descent,[3] was appointed to the bench in 1982 by Republican Governor Richard A.

[5] Judge Cashman did retain his part-time employment with Johnson State College,[6] teaching a course on constitutional law.

[7] In addition, Judge Cashman is an adjunct professor at Champlain College[8] in Burlington, VT, where he teaches two criminal law courses.

Cashman completed his legal training at American University's Washington College of Law, and then served during the Vietnam War as a media relations officer for a year beginning in 1970.

[11] According to Cashman, the Department of Correction rules at the time defined Hulett as "low risk to reoffend" which made him ineligible for sex offender treatment while in prison.

[10] WCAX-TV news opened the story on January 4: "There was outrage today when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a child rapist.

Kristin, Prosecutors argued that confessed child-rapist Mark Hulett deserved at least eight years behind bars for repeatedly raping a little girl countless times starting when she was seven.

[13] Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly kept the issue on the national stage on his television show and in his column by continuing to falsely claim that Cashman had said punishment didn't work.