( CNN ) -- In 2009 , du Pont heir Robert H. Richards IV , 47 , was convicted of raping his 3-year-old daughter and served no jail time because , a judge said , he would `` not fare well '' in prison . You are only just hearing about this travesty thanks to a civil suit filed recently by Richards ' ex-wife , Tracy Richards , alleging that he also sexually abused his 19-month-old son during the same period . How does this happen ? Lady Justice wears a blindfold that 's supposed to represent objectivity . Unfortunately , it seems to blind her in some cases , especially when a defendant is wealthy and connected . And Richards is wealthy and connected -- he 's the heir to not one , but two fortunes provided to him by his predecessors . In 2008 , Richards was indicted on two counts of second-degree child rape for sexually penetrating his daughter repeatedly from 2005 to 2007 . Those two counts would have carried mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years each . He was released on $ 60,000 bail . Richards is unemployed , but with a trust fund and apparently had plenty of cash to hire one of the state 's top law firms . His lawyers pushed until Delaware prosecutors offered a deal allowing him the fourth-degree rape plea -- normally reserved for statutory rape cases -- and Richards admitted the assault . At the sentencing , Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden ordered Richards to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program and pay a whopping $ 4,395 to the Delaware Violent Crimes Compensation Board . ( That 'll teach him ! ) She then sentenced him to eight years in prison , but suspended the prison time and put him on probation instead , writing : `` Defendant will not fare well in Level 5 setting . '' Translation for the rest of the world : The rich rapist will `` fare well '' living as a free man in a house where he raped his own daughter . A few points here : . 1 . The purpose of prison is twofold -- to keep criminals segregated from their victims and the rest of society , to punish them by denying them the freedoms that law-abiding citizens enjoy and to rehabilitate them . Prisons are loaded with pedophile rapists who are incarcerated regardless of their ability to deal with the prison environment . If Richards was a relative of the Dipshots , instead of the du Ponts he 'd probably be behind bars now . 2 . And if the rapist does n't `` fare well '' in prison , how is he a good fit for society ? As far as I 'm concerned , a sex offender who rapes his own child will never `` fare well '' in society . You ca n't cure sex offenders of their sexual urges , you can only teach them to try to control them . In the meantime , we have a duty to keep rapists like Richards contained in a location where they have no contact or opportunity to hurt another child for a good long time -- and that place is in jail . 3 . The Delaware justice system appears to have also lost sight of Richards ' victim -- his own kid ! Think she 'll `` fare well '' knowing her rapist was sent home to his mansion and never properly punished ? The sentence was outrageous , but blaming the judge is too easy . The truth is the entire system is to blame . People with zero resources to properly defend themselves are funneled into the prison system , while rich rapists like Richards can buy an excellent criminal defense team and secure a deal no public defender could ever dream of getting . But Tracy Richards has not given up . She filed a suit last month seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of her children . In addition to detailing the abuse of his daughter , the lawsuit also alleges that while Roberts was on probation , he admitted to the sexual abuse of his toddler son . It cites probation reports from two different probation officers notifying the Courts in 2010 and 2012 about that suspected abuse . According to the lawsuit , which is supported by paperwork from the earlier criminal case , Richards went into his daughter 's room while she slept and penetrated her with his fingers while he masturbated . The suit also alleges that Richards then told the girl `` to keep what he had done to her a secret . '' The girl eventually told her grandmother , who informed Tracy Richards . The girl then recounted the abuse to her pediatrician and New Castle County police , who arrested him . Given all this background , it may seem like a slam dunk of a civil suit , but societal factors -- the advantages of money -- can play a large role in the justice system . You can be certain that if Richards lives off a trust , it 's one that du Pont family attorneys have painstakingly set up , and it 's probably going to be remarkably hard to pierce . Likely knowing she 's in for a fight , Tracy Richards has hired law firm Jacobs & Crumplar , attorneys more than capable of going after people who think they are untouchable . This is the firm that won victims $ 77.4 million in a settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington over sex abuse by a priest . I 've got my fingers crossed that a civil jury will award jaw-dropping damages in this case and strip Richards of the trust fund and the wealthy status that allowed him to avoid jail -- where he really belongs .
Mel Robbins : Du Pont said Robert ' did no jail time in rape of his toddler daughter . Sentencing judge said , in fact , he ` ` did not do well '' in prison . This is not justice . Robbins : Judges should n't shield him from justice . Robbins : Civil jury to award big damages strip him of wealth that helped him avoid jail .