Once the facts are established in cases like this, there should be no appeal (the only circumstance for denying appeal, IMO) - the perpetrators should be declared outlaws - as in, outside the protection of the law: anything done to them would be the righteous retribution of the community, and no penalty would adhere thereto.
Then, they should be placed in stocks in an area with lots of foot traffic; their fates would stand as warnings to others of similar inclination.
But then, I have a daughter...if we won't stand up for our children (as individuals, as a community, as a civilisation), then we're less than animals - no matter what our pretentions.
[/rage]