Released

[wolf]

This is actually a re-post from elsewhere, but I wanted it to get more airplay, so to speak.

A few days ago, I got some news ... good or bad or indifferent, I'm not sure yet, although I'm leaning towards indifferent.

Someone I know recently got out of jail. I would occasionally check the State Department of Corrections Inmate Locator to see if he was still in the Big House. It was pretty easy to keep track of where he was, including the name of the State Correctional Institution he was placed in.

Interestingly, I can still keep track of where he is.

He's a registered sex offender on the Megan's Law Database.

That's where the "indifferent" part comes in.

I already know a lot of people on the database, but that's primarily because of work. They are not really people I know, you know?

I found out about his release because another mutual friend caught a piece of a news story about his home being vandalized. I have not seen the story. For some reason, it hasn't been posted to the station's website, and no other news services picked up the story, not as yet, anyway.

Sylvester Stallone being at the link got immediate coverage. This story, much like his conviction, has already faded into the background. We suspected that family money somehow kept the stories about the trial and conviction out of the media. It must have been family money that kept the house all these years..

He was an acquaintance, not a friend. My circle of friends knew that there was something about how he referred to the "Rent-a-Kids," children of his neighbors whom he spent a lot of time watching, taking to amusement parks, and other things that families are too busy to do these days. He was that strange, kindly, child-like bachellor who went out of his way to have an incredible Halloween display including a computer photo album rotating pictures of the kids in their costumes from last year. The parents dug the pics, while the kids got to explore the interior of the haunted house, and, apparently, other things that are scarier than Halloween ghosts and goblins.

We all knew what was going on, and even went so far as to warn someone not to leave her son unattended with him. She didn't take us seriously. She probably "got" it around the time her son had to testify at the trial as the lead witness for the prosecution.

The guy worked for a very major corporation in the area that had an active school outreach program. Guess who's picture was in the Annual Report (for the year of his arrest, incidentally) showing off his rapport with a cluster of young boys? Guess which year of the Annual Report has now disappeared from the corporate library?

An informal poll of his coworkers yielded many "I expected this sooner or later," but only one "I just hope it's not true."

I know he can't really change. There is no "rehabilitation" for sexual predators. I expect that his parole includes the usual requirements, no contact with kids, no hanging around parks and playgrounds, and probably no computer access. Whether or not that one sticks will be the interesting piece ... does the state have the right to restrict you from your means of livelihood? I don't remember whether he was a hardware or software guy. He was certainly geeky enough for either.

I'm really not sure how I feel about this guy being back in the community.

I especially don't know how I'll react if he shows up at some event I go to.

I suspect that pedophiles are incapable of changing. Their sexual affinity is for children and that seems to be hard wired into them. Maybe because they themselves were molested as children. Its beyond me.

I can see how awkward you would feel should you chance to come across this person's path. Personally, I would just nod politely and keep going without looking back.

[Aliantha]

I don't think I'd nod politely. I'd probably cut him cold actually. He has a right to live his life, but I wouldn't be feeling happy about it or about having to associate on any level with a person like that.

[wolf]

If he were closer within my circle of friends and acquaintances, I'd have to give this a lot more consideration ... I consider what he was convicted for reprehensible. I know how I react to a variety of types of sexual offenders that I have to deal with in work. Professional detachment has it's uses, but isn't always applicable in a personal context.

[Griff]

NYS is looking at permanent incarceration for these guys. If there is no "cure" what choice is there? Is it possible to track them 24-7-365?

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Griff

NYS is looking at permanent incarceration for these guys. If there is no "cure" what choice is there? Is it possible to track them 24-7-365?

Unless you actually have them chained to someone, merely tracking them won't keep them from re-offending.

[footfootfoot]

.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I saw on the news, one of the boys he raped was walking by the guys house and looked up to see the guy standing in the window, after his release. The kid freaked and the kid's mother said he tried to commit suicide later that day.

The County Justice Department says they screwed up, and the guy should have never been allowed back in the neighborhood where he committed these crimes.

Torches and pitchforks time.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Torches and pitchforks time.

OK, and then the backhoe.

[yesman065]

Chop them up - put 'em in a 55 gallon drum, then fill with concrete and drop it 200 miles offshore from a lobster boat - thats how we, I mean they, do it in the Northeast.

Who? no officer - I haven't seen him.

Go to a local factory that uses caustic to clean their lines... there are always giant vats of it around, nothing left but a grease-slick, anything that may be, the pumps take care of... so I've heard.

[Trilby]

*waits patiently for the morally superior among us to defend this misunderstood man's heartbreaking plight*



wonder how long it'll take?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Brianna

*waits patiently for the morally superior among us to defend this misunderstood man's heartbreaking plight*

wonder how long it'll take?

If society deems that his crimes are deserving of x number of years of incarceration, then he should be free to live his life after serving that time. However, I think the primary role of the justice system should be to protect society from criminals. With the extremely high rate of recidivism for this type of crime, I would not support letting him back into society. It's too great a risk.

I don't approve of the death penalty, so I wouldn't support killing him. That leaves some sort of segregation from the rest of us. Prison seems kind of harsh, because he's already served his time. I wish there were still penal colonies. Send these fuckers to one of those to live free on a big island.

A fair solution would let him live his life in peace after serving his time, and also protect society. Too bad you can't have both here.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by glatt

Send these fuckers to one of those to live free on a big island.

Prison with a longer walk to the fence line.

As disgusted as I am, I wouldn't kill him. But letting molesters out is a very big mistake.

Putting molesters in community-based group homes is also a mistake. Although they risk going back to jail if they get caught doing something that violates their probation, this rarely happens. As a bonus they get to be involved in group and individual therapy in which they discuss the details of their offenses, again and again. For the participants whose turn it is to listen to the speaker, this is better than a 900 number, because the state's paying for it. I honestly don't get how staff at these places continue to stay there. Turnover is pretty high. Some of the duties can be interesting ... room checks looking for Walmart and KMart advertising flyers, for example.

Oh, I feel that once his time is up, he has a right to live his life.