When a first-time criminal defendant stands before a judge and expresses embarrassment and remorse, stating that he or she never again will be in that situation, it’s right for a judge to consider leniency.

When a defendant has been arrested many times, a judge should be skeptical about the defendant’s sincerity.

To his credit, Butler County Judge Timothy McCune wasn’t convinced that Robert L. Henderson, 41, of Butler — an 11-time defendant — really intends to steer clear of crime in the future. All considered, the 1- to 15-year state prison sentence McCune meted out to Henderson fits Henderson’s status as an habitual criminal.

If Butler is be a generally safe city in which to live and work, people like Henderson must face sternness, not leniency.

Any leniency Henderson had been accorded in the past obviously did not produce the desired results in giving him an opportunity to turn his life around.

Indeed, Henderson’s latest victims might even be troubled by the low end of Henderson’s sentence — a one-year minimum as compared with two or three.

Henderson, who pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery — one for each incident in which he took a purse — is the person who caused women in Butler to fear whether they might be the next victim of his purse-snatching spree.

The crimes were not limited to one small area but, instead, occurred in an area extending from the YMCA to the Monroe Hotel parking lot. On one of the days when the purse-snatchings took place — last Sept. 25 — two incidents took place within hours of one another.

“The help you are going to need is in state prison,” McCune told Henderson during his sentencing.

It was to Henderson’s good fortune that none of his victims suffered serious physical harm or psychological injury as a result of the trauma of having been victimized.

It was good that Henderson, who has been in jail since his latest arrest, had been involved in counseling and in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Unfortunately, that isn’t enough to merit leniency — not for an 11-time offender.

It is to be hoped that McCune’s response to the latest Henderson incidents will serve notice to those who regard such crimes as petty. While they might fall short of being classified as a violent crime, they have the potential to have serious consequences nonetheless.

Presumably, Henderson will have ample time to reflect on his crimes in a prison atmosphere much less hospitable than what he would have had at the new South Washington Street lockup.

Expressing embarrassment and remorse after an 11th arrest seems hollow.