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| Science Forum Index » Medicine - Transcription Forum » 161 registered offenders... |
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| Yimji... |
 Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:17 am |
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Guest
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Sex offenders are like cockroaches, for every one you see, there are a
thousand more.
And there is a terrible problem with The List, as people have
mentioned. Teenagers are getting the life-list for having sex with
their girl friends. Or stupid teen-age pranks that would never be a
repeat problem. And "practically branded for life" is not accurate.
They ARE branded for life. Any employer that checked the offender
status would reject the person. There are extreme limits as to where
they can live.
I am in favor of branding true sex offenders, preferably on their
foreheads, but this is not what is happening with The List. It is a
half-hearted attempt without any real understanding of the pervasive
problem we have.
If I were the police, I would be checking the men in the area who have
managed to snake out of child molestation charges over the years. I
know of an example in my community. First it was his "crazy" daughter,
then it was his step-daughters who had "false memories". Now he has
run out of family members, if he preys on a child in the community, he
is a potential killer because his credibility is getting short.
So if I were the police, I'd be looking at some "upstanding, church-
going" men closely. The grownups typically think of these men as
eccentric (not always) but harmless. They don't feel threatened by
them. But the kids in the community very frequently are "creeped out"
by these guys for reasons they can't articulate. A recent example is
that Garrido guy in California. The adults thought he was a little
off, but the kids called him "Creepy Phil". A child murderer in my
community was known to the kids as staring at them too much. It
bothered them. He was a church deacon, long-time resident, and his
daughter had complaints that were swept under the rug.
When a molester falls into the "respected member of the community"
category, he also falls into the "you have to respect grown-ups"
category. (priests, teachers, Sunday School teachers, Boy Scout
Leaders, coaches, relative or friend of family). We should listen to
our kids very carefully, and respect their feelings. They depend on us
to help them figure things out.
It horrifies me to know how much of the population is capable of
hurting children. And it horrifies me how much of the "normal"
population is in a level of deep denial that allows the perpetrators
to blow off the contentions of their victims by blaming them for being
crazy, having false memories, or just plain lying.
It's not just the Catholic Church that handles abuse claims by
minimizing the event and moving the perpetrator. It's schools (we
can't have this come out--it will affect the reputation of the
school), it's families (oh, no, not our dear son, brother, husband; he
couldn't do that), it's the lawyers (oh, gosh, this will ruin the
guys' life), it's churches (oh, it was a mistake but he is only a man,
and he has repented and is forgiven now--and back in church). That
list is endless--the men who wiggle out of charges, contentions, and
continue on abusing children. And they get craftier about it over
time. It is a lifetime endeavor. They catch on very quick that "nice
people" just can't believe these things.
The List (registered sex offenders) does have some deserved, hopefully
the majority, of deserved members on it. But it also has some hapless
young men for whom the making of one stupid youthful mistake has
indeed branded them for life.
The Actual List, the one that would actually have the names of people
capable and likely to molest a child in the community is more than 161
in that neighborhood. I am certain of that. We can't be dependent on
the list. We have to somehow be more alert to the reality.
I hope they've recovered some DNA in this most recent case.
In the meantime, if some slightly odd (or not) man, woman or other
child makes your child nervous and creeped out, pay very close
attention. Say something out loud. You can always apologize if you're
wrong. |
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