In a letter to the News Journal, Attorney General Beau Biden said Thursday the case against Robert H. Richards IV was weak and prosecutors offered an appropriate plea bargain that spared him prison while convicting him of a felony sex crime.

Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden's decision to order probation instead of prison for a du Pont family heir who raped his young daughter has led to threats against her and calls for her removal from the bench.

But Biden defended Jurden, writing that the judge "exercised sound discretion based solely on the merits of the case before her'' and doesn't let a defendant's "wealth or social status'' influence her decisions.