William Lynch was only 7 when he was on a camping trip with Reverend Jerold Lindner in 1975. Lynch's younger brother, only 4 at the time, was also on the trip. Lindner did unspeakable things to the boys, including forcing them to have oral sex with each other while he watched.

35 years later, in 2010, Lynch's life was in shambles. He had developed a drinking problem. His marriage failed. He felt no inner peace, still suffering from that molestation in the mid-70s.

Finally, he called the old-age home where Lindner lived. Lindner was 65 at the time, and despite a myriad of sexual abuse allegations against him, he never faced any charges. Lynch gave a phony name and claimed he needed to see Lindner to give him a message about a death in his family.

When Lynch saw Lindner in the lobby, he asked, "Do you remember me?"

Lindner said that he didn't -- which was probably true.

Lynch then approached him and beat the shit out of him. His last words before leaving: "Turn yourself in, or I'll fucking come back and kill you."

Authorities tracked down Lynch from phone records, and charged him with various felonies related to the assult. Prosecutors admitted that Lindner was likely guilty of molesting Lynch in 1975, but called this "vigilante justice" and tried to send Lynch to prison.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...#slide=1045346

I thought it was pretty certain that Lynch was going to get convicted, as he admitted to the beating. His only defense was that Lindner molested him and his brother back in the '70s, and it ruined his life.

Surprisingly, Lynch got off scot free:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...e-charges.html

I actually wish this happened more often.

There was no question here that Lindner was a scumbag molester and had actually committed the crimes that Lynch claimed. The statutes of limitations allowed him to skate away from so many crimes against chlidren without consequence, so I'm glad that this guy finally felt some pain for what he did.

Lynch actually feels some peace now, especially because he brought Lindner's name to the public, after he was living in relative obscurity.

This beating was not related to the Sandusky case, as it occurred more than a year before those allegations were made public.

If you were on a jury, would you convict Lynch of assault, especially if you were certain that Lindner really had molested him in the '70s?