It was the first time he was convicted of an offense, but there was (a) evidence of prior offenses turned up by the investigation into this one, and (b) every indication that the offender was not only remorseless, but saw his own actions as justified by the persecution he underwent for accosting his neighbor's 4 year old son. There was, in other words, a very credible case to be made that the offender was destined to re-offend.