Susan Crawford Gave Lenient Sentence to Langdon Street Attacker

Jerome Winslow committed crimes on or near two UW system campuses

Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford gave a short sentence to a man who brutally beat a female UW-Madison student near campus in 2019.

Jerome Winslow, dubbed the “Langdon Street Attacker,” randomly grabbed the 19-year-old victim while she was walking down the street. He then proceeded to violently hit her until she was unconscious, and dragged her down the street, ultimately throwing her into a snowbank with a broken jaw and damaged eye socket.

According to the criminal complaint, the paramedic found the victim in a blood-soaked snowbank and “observed that the victim’s belt was undone and her zipper was down.”

The prosecutor in the case asked for 17 years behind bars for Jerome Winslow, with the maximum sentence being 44.5 years. However, after a plea deal, Susan Crawford dismissed the sexual assault and false imprisonment charges and sentenced Winslow to only 7 years in prison.

Crawford gave this sentence knowing of Winslow’s long and violent criminal record. In 2015, Winslow pleaded guilty to battery after brutally beating his girlfriend. Also in 2015, Winslow pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after punching his sister in the face.

Furthermore, in 2017, Winslow pleaded guilty to armed robbery after pointing a gun to the head of a UW-Whitewater student on campus. He was on probation for this crime at the time of the Langdon Street attack.

During the sentencing, Crawford admitted that had there been no witnesses that observed the attack, the victim may not have survived.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that young woman would not have lived through the night,” Crawford said.

However, Crawford also said during the sentencing that “I wish I could do something to fix Mr. Winslow’s trauma that he’s experienced.”

U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden criticized Crawford for this sentencing, saying, “Imagine being this young lady or her parents.”

Susan Crawford has received criticism for several other controversial rulings. In 2022, she sentenced Curtis O’Brien, a man convicted of repeatedly raping a five-year-old girl, to only four years in prison. She also permitted him to live across from an elementary school while his case was pending.

Additionally, in 2020, Crawford gave Kevin Welton only four years behind bars for committing first-degree sexual assault against a six and seven-year-old at a club swimming pool.

During the Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate on March 12, Crawford said, “I don’t regret that sentence” when referring to the Kevin Welton case. She added that her light sentences have “kept the community safe.”

Jerome Winslow is set to be released in 2030, serving an extra three years for his armed robbery conviction.