2 weeks in jail for 5 charges. When will Idaho take crimes against women seriously?

On Monday, the day of reckoning finally came for Jonathan Parker, the former Idaho Republican Party chairman, who was arrested on a felony stalking charge at his estranged wife’s apartment complex after residents called police to report that a man dressed in a wig was looking in windows, hiding in the bushes and fondling himself.

Then, even after being arrested, he was charged with misdemeanor privacy trespass and a misdemeanor no-contact order violation pertaining to his ex-wife, as well as misdemeanor unlawful entry and felony witness intimidation stemming from interactions with another woman, a female colleague at whose house he once stayed.

These are all serious charges that resulted from disturbing behavior.

Parker faced up to five years in prison and/or up to a $10,000 fine on the felony stalking charge, and up to six months in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor unlawful entry charge.

In all, Parker was facing five pending criminal cases.

So what did Parker get when he was sentenced Monday?

Two weeks in jail. Just 14 days, the amount of time many of us take for a vacation.

Members of the editorial board — and many in the community — reacted with outrage to see this kind of limp punishment for someone who has put his family and others through complete distress.

Keep in mind that when Parker was arrested, he told police that he was there to scare a different woman, and Parker’s attorney at the time, former GOP Idaho Attorney General David Leroy, told the judge that the incident was a “grand misunderstanding” and that Parker had been invited to a costume party at the apartment complex.

The judge at the time issued a no-contact order, which Parker was later charged with violating.

Parker’s ex-wife testified at his sentencing, “I just want to underline the fact that my concern for my safety really lies in the fact that he continues to blame me for all of the unraveling in his life.”

During his sentencing, Parker’s lawyer sought a sentence including no jail time and a withheld judgment, and made the silly claim that his client has been punished plenty in the media, suggesting a lack of acceptance of responsibility.

Safety is a major concern when dealing with escalating domestic abuse situations, as we have seen time and again, particularly in Idaho.

Parker’s case is not unique in subject or in sentencing. According to the Women’s and Children’s Alliance, nationally 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced stalking, physical violence or rape by an intimate partner. In Idaho specifically, there were 5,774 state police-reported incidents of violence in 2017 involving ex-spouses and dating relationships. At least 13 Idaho women have been killed since 2017 by their boyfriends, husbands or exes in cases that had clear risk factors, according to a rolling tally by the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Parker never was charged such a violent crime, and he expressed contrition and acceptance of responsibility at his sentencing Monday.

But spending two weeks in jail isn’t nearly enough time as a deterrent in this case. (The prosecution sought a 90-day jail sentence, as well as community service and probation.)

If Idaho wants to make any kind of progress diminishing crimes against women and domestic violence, it should take cases like this seriously and provide punishments that suit the crime. Fourteen days in jail does not match the harm that was done.

We need to do better.

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 6:00 AM.