An Atlanta man who was recently convicted of rape and murder has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.

The man was convicted of a December 2000 incident in which he pulled up alongside a woman walking in a park, forced her into his vehicle, drove her to a second location and raped her. He then drove her to a third location and dropped her off before fleeing the scene.

Although the woman called 911 immediately, police had difficulty generating leads at first and the case was considered "cold" for many years. The man was arrested in 2008 after police made a break in the case by using DNA evidence.

The man was convicted for rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and weapons charges.

The man is 34 years old, so if he serves the entire 85-year-sentence, he will  spend his entire life behind bars. Although he absolutely deserves to be punished for what he did, sentencing him to prison for what may likely be the remainder of his life is quite severe. Some people would say that this is too harsh and that, after an appropriately lengthy prison sentence, he deserves a chance to make amends and enter therapy or rehabilitation so he can become a productive member of society once again. However, others say that forgiveness of any kind simply is not an option in circumstances such as these.

Which of those two views most closely resembles yours? It's also perfectly fine to have an opinion that is somewhere in between those two perspectives.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Cold case rapist gets 85 years," David Ibata, July 30, 2012