At the surface, the story of Bradley Demolet seems just one more about a young life well on its way to being wasted. In 1994, he, just a boy of 12 at the time, and three other boys broke into an Eastport home and, in a stunning act of vandalism the town still talks about, demolished it, causing in excess of $100,000 in damage. This week, now an adult of 19, Mr. Demolet went to prison for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old Calais girl.

There’s another story, less shocking, perhaps, but certainly troubling. Despite enormous investments in recent years to upgrade Maine’s corrections system, the dramatic improvements seem to be lost on those handing out the sentences.

Young Demolet’s first exposure to the system came before the upgrades. The vandalism case was adjudicated in 1996; he and a brother-accomplice were sentenced to the Maine Youth Center and were to stay there until their 18th birthdays. Just three weeks later, they were sent home on what is called therapeutic leave – a psychologist found the MYC environment too harsh – and they never went back.

Back in ’96, that psychologist’s assessment of the Youth Center probably was accurate; it was a decrepit facility, so lacking in discipline, safety and rehabilitation programs that Amnesty International cited it as an abomination. Today, after a very substantial taxpayer investment, Maine juvenile facilities and programs are considered among the very best.

On the rape conviction, the prosecutor asked for sentence of 15 to 16 years, with one-third to be served behind bars, the remainder on probation. The defense attorney sought 18 months.

Justice Nancy Mills settled on 21/2 years, followed by six on probation. A longer sentence, said Justice Mills, “would assure that when he gets out of prison, he’ll be a career criminal.”

Though never as scandalously bad as the juvenile facilities, Maine’s adult corrections system also has been the beneficiary of a very substantial taxpayer investment – more than $160 million in the last three years – to allow greater safety, security and preparation for a return to society. Educational offerings, from basic literacy to post-secondary level, are available to all inmates, as are counseling programs for substance abuse, domestic violence and other problems. Considerable resources are devoted to pre-release programs to help inmates adjust to life back on the outside: among other things, they learn how to apply for a job and balance a checkbook. Trades, from woodworking to electronics, are taught. They can even help train service dogs for the visually and hearing impaired.

Disagreements among prosecutors, defenders and judges on the length of sentence are common. Whether Mr. Demolet should spend five years, or 18 months or 21/2 years (20 months with good time) for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl is not the issue here. The issue is the reason Justice Mills gave and the implication it carries that the judiciary is unaware or unconvinced that Maine has a corrections system redesigned and rebuilt to give the inmate every opportunity not to become a career criminal If Mr. Demolet does, in fact, become one, it will be of his own doing and that should not be a factor in sentencing.