Grand Old Police Blotter: Pardon My Molestations! Edition

Eh, what the fuck is a "secret pardon"!?!

Sexual contact with a child, indecent molestation of a child, rape and manslaughter are among the crimes secretly pardoned by former Gov. Bill Janklow, according to documents released today.

Janklow also secretly pardoned his son-in-law's drunken driving and drug crimes, records show.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson today released 218 pardons dating to 1984. Until today, the pardons were sealed from public view.

Janklow said today that he has taken worrisome phone calls from some of those who had been pardoned.

"I'm just heartsick of the hurt that I've caused people that got pardons," Janklow told the Associated Press this afternoon.

"I've been a lawyer since 1966, and I had never, ever looked at the (pardon) statutes," he said.

"All the processing and paperwork was done administratively by others," he said. "That doesn't excuse me. I bear the responsibility. I never looked at the mechanics. I looked at the substance ... on whether or not a pardon should be granted."

In addition to child molesters, rapists and relatives, Governor Thrill-Kill Janklow pardoned drunk driver "Jerus Campbell, a former chief legal counsel for Janklow who was in charge of the governor's pardons program." And Campbell's drunk-ass father.

In a related story, Randy Scott is still dead.

(Via Atrios)