The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday formally called for Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly to resign because of his decision to sentence a child rapist to 10 years instead of the mandatory minimum of 25 years.

After delaying the decision last week because of concerns about how to phrase the politically charged resolution, supervisors voted 5-0 to endorse a sharply worded rebuke of Kelly’s April 3 sentencing of 20-year-old Kevin Rojano-Nieto and call for his immediate resignation.

“He tried to distinguish in writing how this sodomy was different than other sodomys,” said Chairman Todd Spitzer.

Spitzer read a portion of the sentencing transcript in which Kelly said Rojano-Nieto did not seek out or stalk his victim, and that there was no evidence of callous disregard for the girl’s well being.

“If those words don’t make you cringe or shudder or raise the hair on the back of your neck, you are not a human being,” Spitzer said.

Supervisors Lisa Bartlett and Shawn Nelson, who joined Spitzer at an April 9 press conference that called for a recall election against Kelly, echoed Spitzer’s comments. Supervisor Andrew Do, who helped edit the resolution to delete details of the sodomy, dismissed concerns that he and his colleagues were interfering in an ongoing judicial matter.

“I think any comments or criticism that this action is somehow overstepping our boundary, I think misunderstand the structure of our government,” Do said.

The Board of Supervisors have no power to remove judges. Kelly was elected to the bench.

Contact the writer: mcuniff@ocregister.com or 949-492-5122. Twitter: @meghanncuniff.