Claim: A judge “rejected [Kathleen] Kane’s weak deal because of the brutality of the crime and age of the victim… and in another case, Kane went soft on a rapist of a 16-year-old who was released and later assaulted two more women.”
Ad(s): More Like 24 Cases
Sponsor(s): Republican State Leadership Committee
Air Dates: Sept. 20-24, 2012
Total Estimated Spending On This Claim: $112,370
Race: Pennsylvania Attorney General
Markets: Philadelphia, PA and Harrisburg, PA
Stations: Philadelphia: KYW, WCAU, WPHL, WPSG, WPVI, WTXF , Harrisburg: WLYH
FactCheck.org Summary: “But Kane didn’t actually handle either case. It turns out Kane signed criminal information documents – an administrative function – but both cases were assigned to different prosecutors who handled the plea deals. Gene Talerico, first assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County and Kane’s former supervisor, wrote a letter – provided to us by the Kane campaign – in which he states that the ad’s claim that ‘a judge rejected Kane’s weak deal because of the brutality of the crime and age of the victim’ is ‘indisputably false.’ Talerico said: ‘Indeed it is an outright lie.’ ‘As the First Assistant District Attorney, I was the supervising attorney on that case, I can unequivocally state that Kathleen Kane had no involvement in the plea or the sentencing in that matter,’ Talerico stated. Kane’s only involvement was ‘an administrative function with the signing of the criminal information document setting forth the charges.’…If that weren’t enough, the father of the rape victim also wrote a letter on Kane’s behalf.”