texxasco

Well so far, the argument has been pretty much focused on the father, a convicted sex offender. His crime was not for having sex at the age of 18 with a girl a couple years younger, or pissing on the sidewalk, or anything of that nature. He was convicted of rape, attempted rape, sodomy and attempted sodomy of two teen-agers in the 1980s, when he was in his 30's, and as previously mentioned in this thread and supporting articles he also plead guilty to those charges. The man is not just a sex offender, but a violent sex offender, and a predator. Being forced to register as a sex offender for life is only right. IMO once a person is convicted of a violent sex act against a child, he/she should lose their right to ever become a parent, or be around children under the age of 18.

One little detail missing from this thread is this: What's best for the baby girl? She didn't choose to be born to a mother with drug problems, nor did she choose her sex offender father...but there she is. IMO it is in the best interests of the child to not only remove her from the home, but to prohibit her father from having contact with her, as well as allowing only limited and supervised contact with her mother. I agree that we do not know all the facts in this case, but in the best interests of the child I would agree to err on the side of caution in order to protect the child, which is what I believe Child Protective Services or Child Welfare Authorities, as Pennsylvania calls it, has done.

This particular thread struck a cord with me in part because I have personal relationships with people who have been victims of sexual assault, children who have been victimized in a similar manner, as well as having firsthand experience in dealing with the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes in my line of work. So many of them act as though they never did any wrong or show any remorse for their actions. The number of sex offenders incarcerated in prisons is staggering. I work in Corrections, and it is not my job to judge the convicts, but rather to maintain custody of them and that's it. My job is to transport offenders to and from prison units, county jails, private facilities, treatment facilities, as as well as extraditions, and court escorts. The best part of the job is that it is a highly visibility job, and people get to see a CO doing his job in a professional manner, rather than just hearing about the bad officers in the news when one of them screws up. One of the worst parts of my job is court escorts, and it is there that the subject of sexually violent acts against children became very personal for me, and it has left an impression on me that I will never forget.

The past two long days I have been tasked with escorting a convicted sex offender, still incarcerated but due to discharge his sentence and be released from prison in May of 2006, to a state court for Civil Commitment Proceedings. In Texas the civil commitment statute is called the Texas Sexually Violent Predator Act .

This particular offender has been convicted of sexual acts involving boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 8. The victims ranged from children of acquaintances, to family members of his. He was convicted once as a juvenile, then later as an adult, sentenced to prison, then paroled. While on parole from prison for his second offense, he re-offended yet again, and was sentenced to 15 years, which is the current sentence he is about to finish. I won't go into any detail, but in court I was forced to hear every little detail of all his crimes dating back to his childhood. To say that it was a sickening experience to hear what I heard is an understatement. I also listened to numerous expert testimony for the prosecution as well as the defense, and one thing that nobody has questioned is his guilt. What they are arguing is whether he has a behavioral abnormality (wouldn't you think so?), and the likelihood that he will re-offend or not. The judge's decision was for civil commitment of the offender, which will begin upon his release from prison, and not end till such time as it is determined he is no longer a threat. In all likelihood he will remain a threat for the rest of his life, and by his own admission in court he would indeed re-offend if the circumstances and opportunity presented itself.

This was just a small excerpt, but the entire document is available in a MS WORD doc at the link I provided above. This is a long-winded post, but I will wrap it up with this final thought. I do not have statistical information available right now, and can only speak on what I have read personally.... but the bottom line is that the majority of sex offenders DO re-offend, and it is only in very recent years that states have begun to take steps to protect our children and other victims, as well as the general public from falling prey to sexual predators. It's about damn time too.

Nobody wins when it comes to acts of sexual violence. Not the victims, not the perpetrator, nor society. I walked away from the courthouse today in sort of a daze, and only came out of it when the convict cracked a joke and it caught my attention. This convicted sex offender, just leaving court, in handcuffs, belly chain and leg irons, and with my armed partner nearby, had the audacity to engage me in conversation and make a poor attempt at humor. I had an incredible urge to inflict on him the pain that he had inflicted on his victims, but instead I just said four words in a quiet tone so as only he could hear me, "Shut The Fuck Up", grabbed onto his arm a little tighter, and kept walking towards the van.

That girl in Pennsylvania was removed from her home for her own good....and the state of Pennsylvania acted responsibly. People can argue all they want about civil liberties, but Pennsylvania spoke up for a little child that could not speak for itself. I don't know all the answers, but for now I choose to protect the children and keeping them away from known sex offenders is a good start. There is a lot more to be said about sex offenders, and the ways in which we deal with them will continue to evolve. For now I fully support the "take the children and ask questions later policy", especially when it involves a convicted sex offender and a child.

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