Excellent Leaders Take Care of People!

Kudos to Florida Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway, one of the prosecuting attorneys in the case against Debra LeFave, the Florida teacher who was convicted of having sex with underage boys. Mr. Ridgway was quoted on MSN as saying:

“The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims in this case in order to force it to trial. I am not.”

Mr. Ridgway could have chosen to keep the trial in the media -- thus keeping himself in the media and advancing his career (a tactic used quite effectively in several recent high profile legal cases).

Instead, as one of the leaders of this case, Mr. Ridgway took the more ethical route, choosing instead to protect the 14-year-old male victim from having to testify...an event that would certainly have traumatized the young boy; given our society's reluctance to see males as victims.

Bottom line: Florida Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway made the right leadership choice!

P.S. Memo to Ms. LeFave: Whether or not you suffer from bipolar disorder is irrelevant to the fact that you engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with an underage teenager.