Sexual Predator Attacks in Utah: A Wake Up Call for Parents

My heart broke yesterday as I saw the local Utah news. A mother was shopping in Deseret Industries in Sandy yesterday. She was in the store with her little four year old girl and let her out of her sight for seconds, probably thinking that DI was a safe place to be. Meanwhile, a wolf disguised as a sheep wonder around the store looking for an easy prey. He found the little four year old and lured her to the men's bathroom. I am sad to write this but what happened next is no mystery. A registered sex offender did it again.

While I was reading the comments posted about this incident in the on line news page I notice someone posted " Another day in Utah". It really made me think and realize that many parents in Utah feel too safe. Since we live in a mostly LDS environment we feel like nothing bad can happen in our little bubble until it does.

I am a mom of three little ones and sometimes I am thankful that I wasn't raised in the comfort of a safe country but instead I was raised in a third world, dangerous one. I am thankful because even though I live in Provo I still follow the protective instincts that where taught to me in order to survive safely during my childhood.

When I was single I loved the fact that I could leave my bike outside my apartment and know that nobody would steal it. However I had roommates that would scare me at how trusty they were of Provo. They would not worry about locking our apartment and sometimes in hot nights they would get their sleeping bags and sleep in the apartments hall way, just outside without a worry.

We have to be aware that there are people that like to prey in the innocent of heart. That know that people in Utah trust too much and use that in their advantage.

I am thankful that nothing bad have happened to my children since I know bad things can happen to anyone. I feel however that every parent in Provo, Sandy and Utah in general should wake up and see the dangers we are surrounded by. Check the sexual predators registry and see how many of them live just blocks away from you.

I use to live in the actual bubble of Provo located just blocks south of campus and guess what, there are thirteen sexual predators in the area. They are so close to little children that play in the Joaquin park or that go trick or treating sometimes by themselves. Isn't that scary?

When I was looking for a place to move to I checked the registry with the address of the prospective homes and I was shocked by how many registered predators live in Provo alone. Then I checked in Orem, Springville, West Jordan and there are far too many.

I wish as a parent Utah can change the stupid law that lets these people out of prison. Even if there is the theory that they can reform I don't buy it. I think they should at least stay in prison if not the death penalty in cases like the one that happened in DI.

I am not dumb and I know that there are many different cases in the registry and some of the people there had to register for things like having sex with a minor, for example an 18 year old with her 17 year old girlfriend, but there are others with horrible charges that should have stayed in prison for life.

If we can't change that law soon then we should at least know and be informed of what is going on in Utah, and who is a wolf dress in a sheep costume in our communities.

I am sure this people hide and wait in places like the Provo City Library, parks, toy stores, wall mart and more hoping to catch a distracted parent to then lure another little kid. Lets be more careful and be thankful for the comfort of our city safety but don't abuse it and notice the real hidden dangers that can hurt our families.

Is just a matter of statistics. Every city has its dangers and Utah is definitely not the exception. If the reason of feeling safe is because we live in State where most people are LDS, open your eyes. As much as we would like that is not a guarantee. Our perfect pile of apples have some with worms inside that we can not see but are definitely there.