Child Abuse in America

I read a comment on an Associated Comment article that basically said that it is an injustice for sex offenders to be registered. I was appalled by this. I read the rest of the comment and got a better understanding of the comment. It said that sex offenders should not have to be registered at all, they just shouldn't be on the streets. They should be locked up or killed. I calmed down. That had to be the smartest thing I've heard all day.

I do not believe that it is an injustice for a sex offender to be registered. I believe it is a protection to society. The only time it would be an injustice is in the rare case that the offender was actually innocent. I don't recall a case of that off hand.

I wish I knew what I could do to help get a law passed that prevents sex offenders from being on the street at all. It bothers me every day knowing that I have a little boy that may never see the light of day without me there holding his hand. That's a bit of an exaggeration I'm sure but right now he's four years old and I'm scared to death to let him get more than a foot away from me. My son is the most outgoing kid I've ever seen. He will roll down the car window and yell hi to someone walking down the street just to be friendly. It scares me to think about how easy it would be for somebody to take him.

It's a crying shame what we have to go through as parents now to keep our children safe. I found myself explaining to my son that he shouldn't be talking to strangers and saying hi to everybody. I almost cried right then because I had just discouraged my four year old from being friendly. I felt guilty. But I felt it was the right thing to do. When I was young, my brother and I used to roam the streets freely. We knew stranger danger and all. These days it doesn't matter what you teach the kids. The pedophiles are less likely to try to lure the kids to their car now. They just get out and take them in broad daylight.

Clearly they are a threat to society. So how is it that they get a minimum sentence in the county lock up and then put back on the streets to try again? Register a sex offender lets us know that they're out there and where they should be. Well we already know they're out there and they simply shouldn't be. Three years ago, a teacher was sentenced to 2 years of house arrest and 7 years of probation for 2 felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a minor according to Charles Montaldo's article, Florida Child Molester Gets Probation.

That same year, the Jessica Lunsford Act made it a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and permits a maximum of life for lewd and lascivious acts on a minor according to Bill Kaczor's article Crist signs child molester, pot grow house bills. Jessica Lunsford was 9 years old when she was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender. Her father claimed she would still be alive if there had been a mandatory life sentence in place when John Couey was convicted of a second molestation charge.

In 2007, David Aaron Becker was finally sentenced to life in prison for viewing and making child pornography. This is a truly disturbing case. Ira Lustgarden was convicted of child molestation in Florida. He was sentenced to probation. He served his probation in Florida and then moved to Colorado.

In Colorado, Ira Lustgarden worked as a youth sports referee. During that time he lured at least three 11 year old boys to his house leading to his second conviction of child molestation. He served 13 years in prison for this conviction. He was released from prison in 1996 and was granted a legal name change.

David Aaron Becker moved to Tennessee next, didn't have to register as a sex offender, and somehow managed to pass a criminal background check. He got another job as a youth sports worker. When the FBI showed up at Becker's house, he was caught red-handed viewing child pornography. They found 27,000 images of child pornography on his computer. Becker had been part of a "molestation-on-demand Internet group" where they filmed their molestation of children and then took requests from Internet users on what acts to commit according to Child Molester Gets Life Sentence. How many boys had to get hurt because this man wasn't stopped the first time?

The laws are continuing to improve, I will admit that. But it's simply taking too long. There are more than half a million registered sex offenders in the United States according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Most sex offenders serve limited sentences if they are even in prison at all. I think maybe this group of criminals should be dealt with more seriously due to the psychological harm they inflict on our kids, that is, if our kids survive the attack.

Sources

crime.about.com

The Florida Time Union Jacksonville.com

Knox News

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children