A loss for science?

"This is a great loss for science. It's a very sad day for science". These were the words spoken concerning the sentencing of someone convicted of molesting a then 9 year old child.

I'm afraid that I haven't followed the trial of W. French Anderson, but I find it unseemly that some scientists perceive that somehow his research achievements should mollify his crime. The sad day was not the sentencing, but rather a decade ago when that young girl first experienced something we should never wish upon anyone.

"The young woman said she was so distraught, she began to cut herself and contemplated suicide while she was in high school".

Why The Scientist chose to cover this story at all, let alone under the headline "Colleagues upset by Anderson sentence" is beyond me.