January 27, 2006 | 01:09 AM

Judge Edward Cashman changed his mind, in part, when he decided yesterday to increase his original 60-day sentence for child rapist Mark Hulett to a minimum of there years in prison.

Hulett, 34, had pleaded guilty to charges that he had repeatedly sodomized a Vermont girl beginning when she was six years old. The state's guidelines provide for eight to 20 years for such crimes, which is within what prosecutors were seeking.

At his original sentencing, Cashman cited that the Corrections Department would not afford Hulett "sex offender treatment" because they believed that he was not likely to reoffend. Therefore, Cashman believed that the only way to ensure public safety was to give the child rapist a 60-day sentence so that he could be afforded the treatment outside of prison.

Cashman's treatment over punishment decision as being the reason why he initially issued the looser sentence is without merit. This is proven by the fact that the Corrections Department is now willing to provide the treatment and the judge's new sentence still doesn't even come close to the state's sentencing guidelines of 8-20 years.

The resentence still does not fit the crime. It is still just as outrageous. It is still just as sickening. Judge Cashman must be ousted, especially after having another opportunity to make his wrong right. The judge has chosen to disregard the state's sentencing guidelines and let a man who should be facing the death penalty for his heinous crimes to be free in a few years.

Let us pray for Judge Cashman and for Mark Hulett, and especially for the victim in this case. Let us never let our righteous anger subside and be a voice for all the children who have been and who are being victimized.

"Open thy mouth for the dumb (voiceless) in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)