Grand Old Police Blotter: Republican Dirty Linnen Edition

A Republican sexual predator gets a slap on the wrist ... not even a pimp-slap ... for exposing himself to women, and keeps his license to practice law.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An attorney was sentenced to a year and a half in jail for ambushing dozens of women while nude and taking pictures of their shocked expressions.

But Stephen Linnen, 34, won't lose his law license and will be allowed to leave jail to continue work as a law clerk.

He must start serving his time next week after being sentenced Monday under a plea bargain in Ohio's Franklin County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to 53 misdemeanor counts of public indecency, sexual imposition and criminal trespassing.

Linnen, a former lawyer for the Ohio House Republican caucus, has admitted to photographing women while he was unclothed over nearly two years, gaining the name "the naked photographer." He apologized in court, but none of his victims was there.

Judge Tommy Thompson declined to label Linnen a sexual offender, saying he was not a threat to the community and was unlikely to repeat the offense.

An officer of the court who terrorized more than 50 women for over two years. I guess that's the kind of lawyer Republicans like. Does having the name Tommy Thompson automatically make you an idiot, or is it just a coincidence?