I think you may be from the US, Paul, where the word 'liberal' is used in the most extraordinary way as a general insult. It's not used that way in the UK. What I meant was that the person I contacted would never have regarded himself as someone 'soft on crime'. But he still believed the present system wasn't working.
There are people who feel that there's no place for punishment at all in situations like this, and actually I have some sympathy with them. In this case the two boys responsible were punished very severely and clearly, in at least one case, it simply didn't work. The kid would have been better off being put under the care of a very skilled foster parent who had excellent professional support. But the crime was so horrific that society demanded retribution, which is understandable on one level but ultimately hasn't been for best for anyone.
Personally I probably count as a liberal, with a small 'l', on both side of the Atlantic.