Texans Against Sex Offender Parole

In November, 2001, El Paso Texas lost one of our own-- a little girl who'd had only five years of life was abducted and brutally murdered by a "Registered Convicted Sex Offender." This little girl belonged to her family, to God, and to our community.

After this tragedy, the media advised us to check into the www.texasonline.com website's Sex Offender Registry, to increase our awareness of the presence of these individuals in our neighborhoods.

It didn't work. As the Authorities refused to take this issue seriously enough, the result is that the rights of families to live safely does not exist. The "rights:" of these Offenders to walk free to victimize others has taken precedence.

The most common-sense summation of this issue is "the Profile of Sex Offenders" on the texasonline website. To clarify it even further:

1. Either an individual has it in him to commit a sexual offense or he does not. While there may be mitigating factors such as substance intoxication, it is a sickness-- it does not "just happen," it is not curable, and despite many failed attempts, it is not subject to rehabilitation.

2. When an individual has committed such a crime, regardless of whether he has served prison time or received psychological help, he always has it in him to do it again.

3. In addition to committing crimes against children, these individuals are predators who will seek out and exploit anyone they see as easy prey-- to use, take advantage of, and victimize anyone who is vulnerable.

4. Those who commit sexual offenses are sociopaths-- they have no concept of Right vs. Wrong, as their sickness leads them to fully believe that common decency, morality, and the laws which govern the rest of the populace simply do not apply to them.

5. While this type of action against children generally includes sexual deviancy on the part of the offender, it is essential to understand that whether the victim is a child or an adult, these are crimes of violence, and the offender's primary purpose is to degrade, control and humiliate his victim.

To the People of Texas: I urge you to take a few minutes of your time to make your voice heard-- to take a stand, and let our elected officials know that we want our families to have the right to live in safety, and to not allow any more of these predators to destroy anyone else.

When my petition first appeared in 2002, it had few responses; some people claimed that this topic should not be considered as important as children dying in traffic accidents on the nation's highways, while others were more interested in Sex Offenders' rights than the rights of the children. How many more children must be unnecessarily victimized, their lives damaged from the trauma, or their lives ended like that of little Alejandra Flores?

Less than two years ago, an individual who had been convicted of a sex crime against a woman in Texas completed his three-year sentence, relocated to another state and assaulted a child shortly thereafter. There had been no official follow-up of his sentence, as had been recommended.

It is essential that intense studies be done to assess the risk factors so that potential offenders receive help before they commit such crimes. But before that comes into enough practice to make any difference, there is no viable solution other than to keep offenders incarcerated permanently. When it comes to the lives and safety of our children, not an inch should be given to anyone in a position of victimizing them; our children's rights must be our priority.

Again, to the People of Texas: I urge you to take a stand to our elected officials-- to make it clear that if one has victimized a child, he must not be given a second chance.