Doubting Thomas

In December, the probation office granted Bandy's request. He's still on probation for another two years, but the more onerous sex offender terms have been stricken.

The county attorney is characteristically unrepentant. He told 20/20 that he still believes Bandy was guilty, according to the transcript of his interview.

"The juvenile was interviewed," Thomas said. "He admitted at least partially, the substance of the crime, which was yes, he used the computer to go on the Internet to access pornographic sites. It turns out . . . he says it was only adult sites. Quite frankly, criminal defendants are not . . . famous for being forthcoming with the facts. So you've got to weigh that . . ."

But outrage has erupted among bloggers and even, apparently, some Arizona legislators. Defense attorney Novak says he's been talking with Republican senator Barbara Leff about getting a change to the law to prevent this type of thing from happening.

He's learned not to count on prosecutorial discretion — or even common sense.

"The treatment of this defendant is typical of the treatment of accused sex offenders in general by Andrew Thomas," Novak says. "He ran on a platform of being tough on sex offenders, and tough on immigration crime.

"He's not worried about what people like you or I think of a case like this. He's worried about the newspapers saying he's let someone off the hook."