Remembering Junny

On Saturday, November 21, 2009 there was a celebration in a park in Cocoa, Florida. A celebration of remembrance for a local boy whose life was taken on an April day in 1991. The park was named after that child; Junny Rios-Martinez Park.

Junny Rios-Martinez Jr., (11) was abducted, raped and murdered by Mark Schwab in April 1991, a convicted child rapist, who had been released from prison (early) some 6 weeks before. Schwab was subsequently executed for the offense by the State of Florida on July 1, 2008, 17 years and three months after the crime.

The case led to the passage of the Junny Rios-Martinez, Jr., Act of 1992, which prohibits those convicted of sexual battery from receiving early release from prison in the state of Florida. A link to a case file (an appeal) is at the end of this article, that tells the story fully. Junny's is no isolated incident. It happens all over this country on a near-daily basis. And it will continue while good people do nothing. A small determined few however do take a stand to help protect our children.

Much time has passed since Junny played in this park which was a sand lot when he lived here. The park is still full of children, on this festive, sunny, warm, Saturday. Boisterous children; singing, dancing, playing. The sheriff's office was attended along with their dutiful K-9's. Children were fingerprinted and photographed as a service for parents, while an abundance of food and beverages were served.

Junny's parents, Vicki and Junny Sr., were central to this event both well known for their tireless child-protection efforts. Time may have dulled the pain of their loss but it is still very much present. Pictures of their son were placed on a table in the center of the event depicting a handsome child full of the joys of life. A boy and his kite.

At noon Kevin Gillick, who's organization Protect Our Children Inc., (POC) organized the annual event, addressed the crowd. He spoke with the conviction of a man on a mission in his role as a child advocate. Indeed his attentive audiences were the innocent faces of children, their parents hovering in the background. He spoke of the importance of vigilance in taking care of our young. He spoke also of a disturbing trend of the photographing of children as a models in swimsuits, which are sold worldwide on DVDs. He spoke with the passion of a man who knows the enemy well and who has been chasing that enemy for a long time.

Kevin Gillick and Mark Wigley are both board members of POC. They know the intricacies and nuances of tracking child molesters and ensuring that the public remains well informed.

The group prints and distributes a publication - the Guardian Brevard four times a year - in which they list the names and addresses of all the registered sexual offenders in Brevard County. This is a service that other counties around the country should take note of - it's an effective and proven use of public information. They attend trials of sexual offenders. This is an important form of victim support - a tangible demonstration that someone outside of the courtroom cares about them. This group are unique - brave - members of society who take on a distasteful task not just because they want to but because it has to be done. It is impossible to judge how many children their actions saved over the years; there are many.

Molesters, predators - call them what you want - lack conscience and respond only to discomfort. POC provides that discomfort in a subtle but direct and effective way. This group takes responsibility for their community and polices it accordingly, in cooperation with the sheriffs department, to keep people aware of the location and actions of registered sex offenders. Moreover the offenders know that they are on POC's radar. This is important as pedophiles and predators are compulsive repeat offenders.

Child AbuseWatch was honored to be invited to attend this year's event where their founder, Evin Daly, was presented with the 2009 Junny award. It was awarded to reflect the campaign that Child AbuseWatch instituted against Hewlett Packard's use of a song by UK's Gary Glitter for their 'Touch' campaign of 2008. Glitter is a convicted child sexual rapist in the UK and was jailed in Vietnam for raping two children. His song, "do you wanna touch?' performed by Joan Jett, would have earned him a substantial royalty from HP. HP did not respond to Child AbuseWatch's request to pull the ad music track. As a result Child AbuseWatch issued a press release to the media and the protest went international with a call for an international boycott of HP products picked up by over 300 media outlets world wide. A week later HP pulled the multimillion dollar ad campaign. Mr. Daly is also a volunteer Guardian ad Litem at the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach.

To learn more about how Protect Our Children's model can work in your community please contact Kevin Gillick at protect1@netzero.net. He will provide you with turn-key advice on how to do this in your town or city. The group's website address is: http://uspoc.org/

''The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.'

Story background

Florida executes man for 1991 rape, murder of child
http://www.fadp.org/news/20080703006/

Junny's Story - Court docs (pdf)
http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200514253.pdf

Child AbuseWatch's Hewlett Packard 'Touch' Campaign 2008
http://www.abusewatch.net/hp_adpress.php