Too short for prison?

Best thing about being vertically challenged? It might keep you out of prison:

A judge's decision to sentence a 5-foot-1 man to probation instead of prison for sexually assaulting a child has angered crime victim advocates who say the punishment sends the wrong message.
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Cheyenne County District Judge Kristine Cecava issued the sentence Tuesday. She told Richard W. Thompson that his crimes deserved a long prison sentence but that he was too small to survive in a state prison.

Of course, those who disagree with the sentence resorted to the inevitable slippery slope argument:

State Sen. Ernie Chambers, a longtime critic of judges, said he was baffled by the sentence. "If shortness is an excuse and protection from going to prison, short people ought to rob banks and do everything else they would wind up going to prison for," Chambers said. "We're talking here about a crime committed against a child, and shortness is not a defense."